Long time no post. Sorry about that. There were several junctures I mean to at, but in a nutshell, my recovery is just about complete. I had the bookend procedure today; the one that removes the surgical plates. It was done in Dr. Jelic's office under IV anesthesia, but not general--I ended up drifting in and out the entire two-hour plus procedure.
So now, temporarily, I'm back to where I was--as in, back on the puree diet I was on for seven weeks after the initial procedure. This time, however, it will only last 7-10 days, then an equal amount of time on soft foods afterwards is my understanding. I can take it. It's nothing compared to what I've already been through.
Sleep Study Results
Here's one of the things I meant to post before: the results of my 6-month sleep study, taken just after Xmas. My AHI was measured at 8.3, only 3 of which were actual apneas--actual breathing cessation. The rest were hypopneas, which just means constricted breathing. Also some light to moderate snoring noted. Couple caveats to this--only twenty minutes was actually sleeping on my back. The rest was on my side, but the back sleeping was scarcely higher--they extrapolated an AHI of 9. That's still in the mild apnea range (which is defined as greater than 5), but it's still a world of difference from what I was. My pre-surgery RDI was 46, AHI was 35. So all told, about a 75% improvement. And of course, no more mask.
In practical terms...
I find I can fall asleep on my back when I'm first going to sleep, but sleeping on my back gets much more problematic towards morning, I'm guessing because of increased congestion. I can sleep on my side without any issues, though. I do hear myself snoring every so often, but nasal strips do seem to help that. I'm averaging around 6 hours of sleep a night now, which is about a half-hour gain over what it was before to say nothing of better general quality of sleep.
For all that, however... my sleep remains disturbed and it's very hard for me to get a full night's sleep. I'm still not getting enough; I still can't sleep in most mornings or nap. I've tried various drugs, most recently Lunesta. It worked decently for a few weeks and then lost effectiveness but still left me groggy in the mornings. Took me six days to fully wean myself off it. That's what I've always hated about those things--the rebound insomnia afterwards. They may not be addictive, but they still induce a dependency on them for sleep.
So for that reason, I think I'm done with drugs at this point. They don't work well enough for me to justify them. Any solutions for my continuing sleep issues would involve trying to tackle that remaining 25% of my apnea (I think it's my soft palate at fault; I'm sensing the remaining constriction is in my upper airway above my tongue and the x-rays seem to bear that out) and perhaps learning relaxation techniques. I've gotten the most bang for the buck from muscle relaxants, but taking them now enhances my remaining apnea enough to make it very hard to sleep on my back. So I can mimic its good effects by learning to relax. Yoga or relaxation tapes or whatnot.
Worth it?
So, nine months later... was it all worth it? Hell yes. It's still a world better than it was, even if I'm not all the way there. No mask, better quality of sleep, and coworkers have told me they've noticed a change in attitude and appearance, Not just lost weight for the latter, but the lessening of the bags and dark circles under my eyes.
On the subject of weight... I've gained back around half of the thirty pounds I lost post-surgery. Some of that was lost muscle, which I've gained back since resuming my gym workouts. In terms of fod, I can eat pretty much anything I did before, just not necessarily easily since my jaw doesn't mesh and I'm now in a new set of braces to correct that. I'll certainly lose a few pounds this week while I'm back on the puree diet, but nothing like before. I'm happy to get the plates out; I could feel one of them rubbing against the insides of my left cheek. My last numb area is also over where that plate was located, so I have to wonder if it was impinging on a nerve.
No matter. I'll take a 75% reduction in apneas anyday. My fight for a full night's sleep continues, however, but I still believe I'll eventually find my full answers. Slept for three hours this afternoon after I got back from the procedure, you know... but the anesthetic and valium they had me take had something to do with that. Still feels good to sleep during the day like that.
Anyway, I'll be updating this blog a few more times. Still have x-rays to share, but for now, it's time for bed. See how well I sleep after a three-hour nap this afternoon...
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