Posted by Aikman3 on October 04, 2008 at 13:34:03:Had my MMA with KL at Stanford the first week of Sept. Just had my arch bars out this week. Overall, it has been a very worthwhile decision. If my sleep study in a few months shows dramatic improvement, I will be very happy.
Here is my info...
Background: I was a 60 on the sleep disturbance index with no stage 4 or 5 sleep. I have a small blockage in a brain artery and I believe it is related to my apnea. I am 47 and not overweight. I had a BPAP for many years but I took it off 50% of the time. In recent years, I had the typical high BP, mild depression, and slew of health issues. Having the MMA was mandatory for me and I was actually looking forward to the surgery.
Doctor: Dr. KL at Stanford was great. Personality was very business like and not warm but he is an excellent surgeon in my opinion. He is expensive and I had to fly from the midwest to have the surgery. I researched surgeons and found him to be the most experienced at this. The hosp was also very good for my recovery. He kept me in the hosp. 3 days post surgery because I flew in from far away and was alone for the surgery. My wife joined me on day 4 and stayed for a week in a hotel with me for the recovery. I can tell you it sounds really hard, but it worked. I had no problem the first 3 days in the hospital alone. You are very medicated the first two days, so you don't miss people much.
Surgery...the surgery was an MMA but not the tongue advancement. Prior I had a Hyoid Suspension, UPPP and septum straightened. Non of these worked in the least for me. Dr. L was good on the prep and his anesthesia doc was excellent as well. The surgery only took 3 hours and he said it was great. When I woke up, there was a lot of pain but the drugs made it ok. I slept 2/3rds of the first day in intensive care. When moved to the regular room, the nurses were all fine. You have to write everything and language is a problem at stanford. English is the second language for most of the nurses and when you write English, it is tricky. I speak two languages fluently but at Stanford, the diversity of languages is extreme. Twice, I caught mistakes from the nurses because they did not understand each other. One time, they almost gave me double pain killer. I think they were great overall, but, I suggest you pay attention and be as clear as possible with what you write.
Recovery....my recovery is going extremely well...knock on wood. The first week is very hard. Your body has to get used to little food, you are recovering from anesthesia and you are bleeding in the nose area a lot. It was amazing to be so down and out on day 5 and to be in pretty good shape by day 7. I think a week to ten days is what you need to get over the hump. After the first week, it is still hard but not terrible.
At week 4, I had the arch bars removed locally. I had minor discomfort but it wasn't bad. Some docs want to knock you out...not needed in my opinion. You have to go to an oral surgeon to have them removed though.
My pain went away after about 15 days or so. You still need motrin but not the heavy stuff. Be careful weening off the Vicodin. Just slowly reduce it over a few days. It can cause problems with withdrawal if you go too fast.
Today, I am eating very soft foods. I lost only 8 pounds. My Jaw is perfectly aligned...(thanks Doc) and I am numb in several places. The roof of my mouth has no feeling and my chin is half numb. I know this will take 6-12 months to come back. My energy is good. I started in the Gym this week lightly. Before this, I really did not have the energy. I think work is fine at 5 weeks or so.
Face...I look different. I think a bit worse but not bad. Its worth it to me. I still have a little swelling, so we will see how it looks later. Looking in the mirror is a strange sensation fyi
Speaking...normal...slight slur with the numbness but I'd say 90 percent normal already.
Sleeping...I think excellent. I am dreaming every night very vividly. I think it takes time for your sleep pattern to come back to normal. I get some night sweats but not much. I don't snore and I feel more energy during the day. My blood pressure is down and I have no depression.
Anyway, I consider myself very lucky so far. If anyone needs more information, just let me know.
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