TransOral Robotic Surgery saved me
[Sleepnet.com's Homepage] [Sleep Disorders] [Sleep Links] [Search]

TransOral Robotic Surgery saved me

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ Non-CPAP Forum25 ] [ FAQ ]

Posted by stillnotcured on October 24, 2012 at 06:37:40:

Ok, not sure where to begin. Long story short, here's all the sleep apnea surgeries I've had done the past 13 yrs. Pretty much most of the procedures listed in the Stanford Protocol - UPPP, nasal septoplasty & turbinectomy, somnoplasty to base of tongue, coblation to base of tongue, GA (genioglossus advancement), MMA (maxillo-mandibular advancement), partial epiglottidectomy. The effects were always temporary for me. Maybe helped improved things a few weeks, maybe several months (like with the MMA), but the improvements never lasted. Even went to a top sleep medicine center and ran a battery of tests to see if what i had was something other than OSA (obstructive sleep apnea).

So I've always had to fall back to using an autopap for the past 13 yrs. Mediocre and inconsistent results at best. But it was still better than nothing. Rented a bipap for awhile, tried 3 or 4 diff dental appliances. Nothing worked. Then I hit a major crisis a few months ago - the autopap which was my last 'hanging by a thread' thing I was using wasnt effective anymore. Not even experiencing the mediocre effects. Nada. Health was deteriorating fast and I figured I'd be dead within an year or two unless I did something. Tracheotomy? Ive suggested this to several doctors, but they all went against this.

I then learn about this Transoral Robotic Surgery for sleep apnea. Flew all the way out to the east coast to Univ of Penn and saw the doc since they were one of the first places that started using the device (Davinci machine) for sleep apnea, Just started using it a couple of yrs ago for sleep apnea. (Was originally created to get to 'very difficult to reach places' in the throat, etc, like for throat cancer, etc). Goes into the base of the tongue and does a lingual tonsillectomy. Apparently doing this manually was always very invasive in the past. (the 'very difficult to reach manually' thing). Also, tongue reduction surgeries in the past (like midline glossectomies) didnt really address the base of the tongue which was where the obstructions occurred. So you had to get to the base of the tongue. Stuff like somno or coblation to the base of the tongue just doesnt reduce things that much.

So after the Univ of Penn consultation, they mentioned dozen other places in the country that has the Davinci. Mostly big university hospitals that can afford the machine ($million +). Seems there's more hospitals in the east coast that have it, but there's a few in the midwest and a few in the west coast where I live. So I went to UCLA couple of months ago. Got checked with a endoscope and sure enough, doc says Ive got a big tongue problem (lol). Very little airway space at the base of tongue. (Remeber, this was after Ive already had the GA/MMA yrs ago, somno and coblation to base of tongue.)

Did the surgery a month ago. First thing I felt was the immediate relief/improvement, like it stopped the sense of "deterioration" I was feeling in its track - for a lack of a better way to say it. Like it's gonna put at least another 10 yrs to my life and not be dead within an yr. Now Im not gonna pretend like I'm sleeping like a baby or anything. But it stopped the serious heaviness of the chest, tight/dry throat, the "I'm gonna be dead real soon if this continues" health deteriorating condition I was feeling every morning. Went back couple of wks later to do a post-surgical checkup. Did the endoscopy exam. Amazed. I'll say it again- amnazed at the difference. Before and after screenshots im seeing on the vid monitor of my airway. The amout of space that increased was amazing. My first thouhts? - "why the heck do we even need something as invasive as the MMA when this thing openned up the space at the base of the tongue so much more than what the MMA ever did". I remember the endoscopy exam after the MMA, but this (robotic surgery) did much more in increasing the space.

What's incredible/amazing living in this age is the constant advancements we're making in modern medicine. But it's also quite frustrating at times. Like "why didnt they have this 13 yrs ago?". :P

Follow Ups:


Post a Followup

E-Mail  :  required - same address used when you registered (will not show up in posting)
Password:  required (sent to you when you registered)

Subject : Re: TransOral Robotic Surgery saved me

Comments:....note: including your email address here will result in the removal of your posting (See removal policy)

PLEASE ONLY CLICK THE SUBMIT FOLLOW UP BUTTON ONCE!!. Thanks, Sandman

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ Non-CPAP Forum25 ] [ FAQ ]