Open Letter to Restore Medical

[PaulY]

Who would've thunk it? Such a simple, yet revolutionary idea: rather than cutting and snipping, why not insert something that'll strengthen? I had such confidence and faith in your new idea, I enlisted as part of the clinical trial and I tell everyone I know who has this disorder about you. And as you may know, I have been an outspoken advocate of your procedure on national media outlets like Reader's Digest.

Through your efforts, you have saved (and will save) countless people from suffering the pain associated with traditional palatal surgeries like the UPPP.

We need more revolutionary ideas from companies like yours. For those of us who have benefited from your research and who still have an obstruction at the rear-of-tongue, another idea - another breakthough, would be quite welcome.

How about investigating new ways to address the tongue obstruction? A new "who would've thunk it" idea?

If you were to come up with a way to treat the rear-of-tongue *as easily* as the procedure you have invented for the palate, you will have essentially addressed the vast majority of obstructive sleep apnea cases.

As you know, coming up with a efficacious treatment for the tongue is the Holy Grail of OSA research.

I know if it comes, it will come from a company like yours, and from individuals like Dr. Thornton who invented the TAP. People who don't satisfy themselves with simply improving existing treatments, or who design another interface to an existing treatment - but people who think *outside* of the box (even in face of strong opposition and ridicule), and have the ability to make it happen.

This beast can (and will) be beaten - your efforts have vastly improved my quality of life, that of Stoboy's... and who knows how many thousands of others? Please don't stop at the palatal level, don't rest on your laurels - make it happen again.

-PaulY

[Keleih]

I wanted to thank you, Paul, as well. It was because of reading your posts as well as Stoboy's and others that I decided to have the pillars. I am not fully thru my 90 day 'waiting' period, but I am already seeing significant results. Even if there is no further change from where I am currently at, I am completely happy with the results.
Thanks so much for all of the information that you have provided us on this procedure.

Also, because of my good results, my sister decided to have the procedure done as well. She just had hers put in about a week and a half ago. ^_^

[PaulY]

Hello Keleih,

That is *great* news. How did your experience go with the actual procedure and the recovery period?

Please keep us posted on the results as you (and your sister!) progress towards your 90-day PSGs. I would like to start some sort of "scoreboard" on anyone's before/after results that we can get a hold of.

-PaulY

[Guest]

I had a sleep study done back in September. The sleep study was not very accurate though because the nurse that stayed with me all night was on the phone with personal problems right outside my door... and those doors are not very heavy. Also, some of the monitoring equipment stopped working about 2-3 hours into the study so the nurse was in my room, waking me up about every 5 minutes to mess with the equipment to get it working. It was the worst nights sleep of my life. I went to my doctor to get the results and to try to schedule a more accurate study. He said that they got enough reading from my study to diagnose me with mild OSA and could be in the moderate range had I actually been able to sleep at all. He also told me that he didn't want to do another study and then suggested I get a UPPP and tonsilectomy (even though he said that my tonsils were so small, that he at first thought that they were already removed). I researched these procedure and didn't like what I saw. I also did not have much confidence in my doctor since he barely even looked down my throat, he just wanted to cut me open.

That's when I went to the sleep forums. I knew I wasn't getting a good nights sleep but I also knew that it wasn't as severe as most other people's. I'm 25, not overweight, non-smoker, and I've snored my entire life. The only reason I went to a doctor was because my boyfriend said that I had recently stopped breathing occasionally in my sleep.
I read thru the messages and decided that before I do a major, painful surgery, that I would take my chances with a less painful and less invasive procedure. I went onto Restore Medical and found the closest doctor that would do the procedure which ended up being about an hour and a half away from me.

I scheduled a consultation and was very impressed with the doctor. He looked at what my last doctor had said, looked at my sleep study, and actually took a look inside my nose and throat to see where the obstruction could be. He said that for someone suffering from OSA, I seemed pretty open back there. He did not believe the nose or the base of the tongue to be the culprit. He also didn't understand why the tonsils needed to be removed. He said that it could be the soft pallate loosening up at night and falling into the back of my throat when I slept since he couldn't really find a source where it could be coming from. He told me that I was a really good canditate since I was not overweight and my apnea was mild. He also reminded me that while the pillars should help, it may not correct my problem 100%. I elected to have the surgery and he put them in the same day.

I was extremely nervous but my doctor was very good at talking to me and making me feel comfortable. The procedure went fairly fast though I was surprised that it hurt a bit more than expected. It was a little painful but if I had to do it all over again, I would.

I took 2 Advil that day and 1 the next day and that was all for pain medicine. I was able to eat the same day though I preferred really soft foods. I found that drinking Iced tea was the best thing ever. Water was hard for me to drink for about a week, but Iced tea was great. I don't know if it was the herbs or what but the ice helped the bruising and made it feel so much better. I also had a huge amount of drooling the first day which I haven't heard anyone else mention. The drooling had stopped by the second day though. I was bruised for about a week but after that, I didn't feel anything anymore and I was completely back to my normal diet.

I'm still snoring but nowhere near as bad. It's a lot quiter now and doesn't bother anyone anymore. I haven't woken up in the night anymore and my boyfriend hasn't noticed me stop breathing yet. Also (and I hear this a lot), I've also started dreaming again. It's been so long since I've remembered dreaming, and now it seems like I'm dreaming every night. My airway in the back of my throat feels more open now, even when I'm awake during the day. I feel more rested and alert during the day and I don't get as tired so much.

I am very happy with my results and am so glad that I didn't just listen to my first doctor.
I don't know if I will have a follow up sleep study since my first one was so bad. I am really not looking forward to one. I will try to keep updated on my progress though.
Thanks so much! ^_^

[Keleih]

That last post was me... I guess it logged me out.

[jgb]

I am so glad to read some positive results from having the Pillar Procedure. I have been doing a lot of research on treatments and have decided to have it done. I haven't been able to get much information from people who have had it done so these posts were great to read. I have an appointment next week to see if i'm a candidate and if so, hopefully will get it done then or the next day. I'll be traveling 350 miles to get to a physician who does this procedure so hopefully all will work out.