Posted by stillnotcured on July 28, 2009 at 11:25:25:In Reply to: Survey of MMA failures posted by westernjoe on July 24, 2009 at 15:23:57:
My guess as for why my MMA didn't work was because the surgeon didn't advance my lower jaw enough. He did a slant-bottom type procedure. fwiw, another surgeon was thinking of doing the same. Bottomline is, most maxillofacial surgeons seem to have a mindset that places way too much weight and importance on how you'll end up looking like instead of placing the most importance on curing the apnea. So they tend to be very conservative in advancing the jaw. 99% of the surgeries they do is for orthognathic reasons (face deformities and fixing a bite, etc). It's everything EXCEPT treating apnea. Dr P. at Stanford told me the same thing. A maxillo-mandibular surgeon in L.A. whom I consulted told me the same thing. Too conservative with the advancement.
I regret not having my MMA done at Stanford. Should've bitten the bullet and paid even without full insurance coverage. I'd do another MMA only if medical science ever advances to the point where they can provide some sort of medication/treatment that dramatically reduces the swelling, reduces the bone healing time and can make the MMA a walk in the park like the GA surgery I had years before. With the GA there was minimal swelling and I was up and about in like a week. But the MMA was very trying. Would never do it again.