Surgery scheduled for Thursday

[noway.nohow]

I spoke with a few of you in the chat room (I was No.How.No.Way)last nite and ya'll were adamantly voted against me having UPPP surgery. Well, I have cancelled that part of the surgery. I am scheduled for a Septoplasty along with Turbinate Reduction. I was having a hard time getting the insurance co to agree to the UPPP anyway. Hopefully this will enable me to sleep soundly and quietly and NOT have to use the CPAP. Ill let you know what happens!

Thanks for your help and advice!!

Carole

[<Toth>]

Sorry I was not there in the chat room to inquire of you why the surgical turbinate reduction rather than the merely 'office-procedure' of Radio-Frequency Ablation of the tissue underlying the turbinates. I had the RF ablation three times. The first time provided an immediate improvement and it was a joy to breathe on the way home from the ENT's office.

[noway.nohow]

Was never offered as an option, Toth. These procedures were suggested from the findings of my sleep study (?)

[Rachel E]

I need to have turbinate reduction done in order to continue using any OSA treatment option. I have put this off as long as I could, but it is so evident that my ENT is right in that I need to do SOMETHING with these turbinates.
The only thing is, the treatment the ENT does seems barbaric in light of rf coblation or ablation. The problem is, I have not been able to find someone in my region to do this procedure. I am not even sure that my insurance will pay for it, as some consider it experimental or unproven. Dumb as that seems, since it is easier on the patient with much less involved.
I will deal with the insurance after I find a n ENT since I may have to go out of state and we have state employee insurance. Either way, I am going to have this done.

I am used to paying for my own experiments with this OSA, first my own APAP, then my own TAP, and now, who knows?????

Just venting....and trying to breath even during the day....
Rae

Oh and Carole...hope it all goes well, and let us know how it works for you...

[ February 04, 2005: Message edited by: Rachel E ]

[snork1]

From the perspective of just having just gone through turbinate reduction and septoplasty and general roto-rooter of my sinuses......

My ENT recommended to split up the Nose surgery from the UPPP, as you are now doing. Actually she does not want to go further if CPAP NOW works for me after the initial nose surgery.

I asked about the RF ablation versus slicing and dicing of the turbinates. Her take on it was that the ablation would not address the MANY other problems with my sinuses and nose, and while in there it was RELATIVELY minor to reduce the turbinates surgically, versus go in AT LEAST 3-4 times with the RF procedure.

I opted to go the full meal deal for my nose and I am EXTREMELY GLAD I DID. After a year of CPAP 'ell, trying EVERY trick in the book that I learned from this wonderful forum, my AHI was still in the 9-14 range, I still felt like crud, mouth leaks were enormous and I was getting pretty fed up with CPAP.

Immediately after surgery (3 hours under the knife!)I noticed a slight improvement. (as in THAT NIGHT). Several weeks of flushing out MONSTER blood clots and then coming down with a massive head cold (courtesy of my wife:-)kept the results at "OK". But now I am healed, and healthy and WOW! So THIS is what CPAP is supposed to do?! coooool!

MY opinion.....
If your nose doesn't work, CPAP won't work. period. Full face masks and all the other "but, but, but....." answers were worthless until I got my nose working.

Now I get a couple of apnea events A NIGHT with my Activa mask, down from 38 an hour in my original sleep study.

your mileage may vary.

[rested gal]

Snork, that's absolutely great! No more oven mitts or gel shoe inserts for you.

Super!

[snork1]

quote:

---

Originally posted by rested gal:
Snork, that's absolutely great! No more oven mitts or gel shoe inserts for you.

Super!

---

But you will be happy to know, I still use my elastic-and-bra-strap chin strap.
Albeit lightly and it is really only needed during deep sleep. I still want to put together one of those DIY tongue positioners and see if I can dump the chin/lip strap completely.

[<Toth>]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Rachel E:
the treatment the ENT does seems barbaric in light of rf coblation or ablation. The problem is, I have not been able to find someone in my region to do this procedure. I am not even sure that my insurance will pay for it, as some consider it experimental or unproven.

---

It would not be considered experimental and usually an insurance company will be very happy to pay for a ten minute office procedure rather than the SMR which is a half day under full anesthesia.

[okie-girl]

So glad to hear you are taking it slowly, one step at a time.
I will be eager to hear how the surgery goes for you.
We didn't even get around to talking about some other things that can offer improvement.
Side/tummy sleeping (not on the back) will reduce apneas/snoring for many people
Sleeping on a wedge with a 30 degree elevation of the head, or elevating the head of the bed with blocks etc. can reduce episodes for many who have positional apneas.
If you smoke or are overweight, reducing those can offer an improvement.
If you have any allergies or asthma, get good control of those.
You can consider a TAP oral device for significant apnea/snoring reduction.
Cpap is really not as bad as you think it might be, I have slept with it every night for over four years, and love it!!
If all else fails, and after much research so you a fully informed, if you still feel you would like to try a UPPP, you can. But I am glad you aren't rushing into the UPPP surgery as a first treatment choice.

[<Seattle Bill>]

Hi Carole,

I think you made a good choice regarding the UPPP. Good modern clinical data regarding its effectiveness is lacking. While it may help some people initially, those results are prone to relapse over time.Most people find it painful; and some have longer term swallowing and foreign body-sensation issues after scar tissue starts forming.

My UPPP went as well as any could go...but in retrospect, it was an annoying waste of time. It improved the oxygenation on my sleep study; but, did nothing for my RDI or total apneas. Although not as emphatic as some fellow posters, I think the UP3 is an out-moded operation that at best gives temporary or marginal improvement with significant morbidity in some people. Sleep centers should re-study and re-evaluate this procedure.

I agree with the advice you are getting here on this board, make lifestyle changes, try different masks & machines, and wait for better appliances or procedures before doing the UP3.

Good luck with your turbinates ! It should go well.

Bill