2 Month MMA Update
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2 Month MMA Update

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Posted by sturmer on July 30, 2008 at 14:56:44:

My 2 month post MMA update. Dr KL was my surgeon and he is amazing.
Numbness: I have a lot of numbness in my upper gums and roof of mouth. It doesnt bother me except when I floss because I cant feel if Im flossing too hard! I believe most of it will go away. I have at this point no numbess at all anymore in lower jaw chin. It just melted away down there. Not an issue to me.
Pain/discomfort: None. I have some discomfort now and then if I overdo chewing, talking, singing, etc etc. I started to get a slight inaudible to anyone else click sound on my upper right jaw. It really has bothered me but the less I think about it the less it bothers me. Dr KL took a look and was not concerned. That side up top is the slowest healing and now I am being extra careful
The one discomfort that sometmes bothers me is I guess when the bone in the upper jaw is broken and advanced it has a sharp upper edge. Sometimes I can feel this edge and bone prominence cutting into the back of my face. Or rather skin in my face and nose. Very odd. I also sometimes will feel discomfort at break points in lower jaws if I over do it. Jaw muscles at times are unhappy. All of these are minor inconveniences compared to my no life pre MMA OSA (UARS) suffering.

Mental: This has improved a lot as of the second month. I feel like the fatigue is waning ever so slowly and about a week ago I turned a corner where I was ready to take on the world!!! Just my jaws arent...but give me time!!!
Sleep: Some nights are amazing, other not so but EVERY SINGLE DAY is 100 times better than pre surgery. Dont get me wrong the first month after this surgery I rarely got a great night sleep due to all my discomfort issues (see earlier post on here for one month) but now I wake up sometimes so happy and with so much energy it is unbelievable. I feel "normal". For me this surgery was about being me again, and I think as long as I live a healthy lifestyle...Im back :-), I will be hacving a study in coming months, but at this point I honestly in my heart and mind (and my body agrees), I am cured. I no longer wake sweating. No convulsing. No snoring. No waking gasping for air. No tongue collapse in back of throat. I breathe easier night and day. Thank God for this medical miracle. Some may say it is barbaric, but OSA is far more evil in comparison. This coming from someone who had an AWFUL time with the surgery recovery and was kind of a baby, never having suffered so much.
Medication: None.
Eating: I eat too much but somehow keep the weight off. Need to excercise more than I am. New found energy has been helping me! I ate some stuff I shouldnt and now I backed off to softest of the soft. Mashed potatoes, bread, pasta, soup. If you have this surgery do yourself a favor and be super gentle to those jaws. Dont over do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Listen to Doc
Teeth/Bite: I feel like my teeth are shifting some and when flossing some contacts are tighter (like a lot tighter) and some are very loose. My bite still feels great though, but Im sure some fine tuning will help. My teeth are not 100% centered to my face, off by a millimiter or 2 I think but it is a non issue. I cant believe how successful such a complicated surgery was. I will see my dentist in the future but a lifetime of retainers or whatever else is worth a good nights sleep!
Physicial: Voice: For me as a singer this was a huge concern. The surgery and anesthesiology can mess this up. I am happy to say other than the way my new mouth changes the forming of words I am 100%. And I have the energey to sing! The subtleties I am growing into and I like the new me more and more each day. From a physical standpoint I actually believe I look better and more masculine. A receding chin is not too becoming but more than that, it made my tongue collapse in my throat and airway collapse easier. Boo. I see lots of people with small, receded chins and wonder if they have OSA.

This MMA surgery is a BIG BIG BIIIIIGGGGGG DEAL! About 10 times more vicious than what I expected it to be. It seems to have "cured me" and I look back at pictures of me with CPAP and can almost cry. It sits in the closet hopefully without a use ever again. CPAP is the worst torture I ever endured. It didnt help me but I spent years trying to be compliant because it did help a family member and another forum (the one which shall not be mentioned) and that family member swore up and down my noncompliance was my problem when every sleep study and Stanfords best said CPAP would probably not help me. Listen to the best not family, and not sleep apnea forum trolls who are angry with their situation and dont believe there is hope for a strangers. With CPAP I didnt sleep well at all with it. I could get a 60-70% nigths sleep at best. NOw I approach closer to feeling 100% every night! Thank you to the years of research I put in, people like you on this forum, the Stanford Sleep Disorders Clinic (french doctor there) Dr G and small but a powerhouse surgeon Dr KL it has given me a new life. I felt like I was choking for 3 years. I feel like I made it through the small door to the garden...like in Alice in Wonderland. Like I was trapped and too tired to do anything. Now I am ready to walk down paths....

Thank you
Sturmer


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