Surgery/ Travel-sized CPAP?

[tgree]

I recently got diagnosed with OSA, and I'm considering pharyngoplasty - has anybody had any success with surgery?

A bit about me: I'm male, fit, asian, in my late 20's. I travel a lot and it'd be extremely difficult for me to carry a machine around for the rest of my life, and I don't see my physical shape getting significantly better when I'm in my 40's or 50's.

Thank you!

[Pugsy]

I recently got diagnosed with OSA, and I'm considering pharyngoplasty - has anybody had any success with surgery?

You do know that this is a cpap help forum and not necessarily a sleep apnea forum.
The bulk of the people here use a cpap for their sleep apnea. If they had undergone the surgery and successful I doubt they would hang around here. I know I wouldn't ..
We do have some forum members here who had some sort of surgery in the past and it either failed or the OSA came back over the years...but they are here using a cpap machine. Some were able to buy some time that they could avoid the machine for a period of time but they are here now.

A bit about me: I'm male, fit, asian, in my late 20's. I travel a lot and it'd be extremely difficult for me to carry a machine around for the rest of my life, and I don't see my physical shape getting significantly better when I'm in my 40's or 50's.

You know what...I am 65 and not in the greatest of shape sometimes but I can manage to carry a cpap in a bag through an airport...plus a computer sometimes.
You are in your late 20s...who knows what might be available in 20 to 40 years in terms of treatment for sleep apnea.
Are you looking for an excuse to not get a machine because it's just "too difficult" later when you get older or you just don't want to mess with it now?

There are some teeny tiny cpap machines that weigh next to nothing though and not much bigger than your fist.
They come with their own little pros and cons but they are tiny.

[chunkyfrog]

A former co-worker and her husband took their cpaps in the motorcycle trailer they towed to Sturgis and back.
They have S9's, and do not let size or taking care of their health prevent them from living an awesome life.

[LSAT]

I recently got diagnosed with OSA, and I'm considering pharyngoplasty - has anybody had any success with surgery?

A bit about me: I'm male, fit, asian, in my late 20's. I travel a lot and it'd be extremely difficult for me to carry a machine around for the rest of my life, and I don't see my physical shape getting significantly better when I'm in my 40's or 50's.

Thank you!

If you don't carry it, the "rest of your life" could be shorter than you expect.

[bill-e]

Travel machine: It might depend on your definition of "travel a lot". I travel virtually every week via plane. I actually did stop using my cpap for a while simply because it was a PITA to *me*. A lot of folks who travel as much as I do get into what I call a travel depression where we see everything as a nuisance, TSA, 3rd bag, stupid TSA agents, not enough overhead space, tourists, etc. Once I got my Z1 life got better. I personally would not travel with anything else.

[RestedRebel]

I recently got diagnosed with OSA, and I'm considering pharyngoplasty - has anybody had any success with surgery?

A bit about me: I'm male, fit, asian, in my late 20's. I travel a lot and it'd be extremely difficult for me to carry a machine around for the rest of my life, and I don't see my physical shape getting significantly better when I'm in my 40's or 50's.

Thank you!

Actually, my cpap is an advantage when I travel because I board early so that I can safely stow my cpap machine. I used to travel a lot when I was younger and brought along two cameras, their cases, and lenses. THAT bogged me down much more than my cpap does now. Plus, you do know that the cpap does not count as carry on luggage, and TSA recognizes the cpap machine, even the case, so it's not a problem. I do make sure I only pack my cpap with me and don't put socks or anything else into my cpap case.

The only thing I don't like about traveling is that I like to use the water chamber for proper humidity levels, and I can't carry distilled water with me on the plane. So, I end up having to purchase distilled water at my location or else use the machine without the water and humidity. Then I feel like I have wind burn in my nose and find myself sneezing a lot with a runny nose. I'm hoping that was because my machine was old, though, and hope that my new machine will be better and easier to use.

Ultimately, it's your life, and you will determine the quality of your life. Not using cpap therapy can cause a huge strain on your heart, so if you choose not to use it, you won't may not have to worry about having to use a cpap when you're 'older.'

Surgery doesn't always work and dental appliances don't either, so keep in mind that the one therapy that works is cpap. Just make sure that you choose wisely.

[Pugsy]

The only thing I don't like about traveling is that I like to use the water chamber for proper humidity levels, and I can't carry distilled water with me on the plane. So, I end up having to purchase distilled water at my location or else use the machine without the water and humidity. Then I feel like I have wind burn in my nose and find myself sneezing a lot with a runny nose.

Just use tap water or bottled water. If the tap water is safe to drink there's no reason you can't use it short term until you can get home or find distilled water somewhere.
You know what happens if you use tap water...maybe nothing but at worst the water chamber gets a little mineral build up on it depending on how hard the water is and how long you use it.
That's it...and that mineral build up is easily cleaned up with some vinegar.

When I travel I don't bother with distilled water.

The problems you are having with your nose because of the lack of moisture is a whole lot worse on you than a little bit of mineral buildup in the water chamber that is easily removed anyway.

[RestedRebel]

Thanks, Pugsy, you're right. I'll do that from now on.

[SewTired]

tgree, I saw a Z-1 about a month ago and it is tiny, tiny. I could fit the thing in my purse. I think this is definitely a machine to consider if you are flying a lot. I know weight is a huge factor for the frequent flyers where I used to work.

I have no comment on the surgery as I know nothing about it.

[Goofproof]

I recently got diagnosed with OSA, and I'm considering pharyngoplasty - has anybody had any success with surgery?

A bit about me: I'm male, fit, asian, in my late 20's. I travel a lot and it'd be extremely difficult for me to carry a machine around for the rest of my life, and I don't see my physical shape getting significantly better when I'm in my 40's or 50's.

Thank you!

If you don't carry it, the "rest of your life" could be shorter than you expect.

Better hope you don't need a full sized O2 compressor, they are really tough to get in your back pack! Jim

[Holden4th]

I'm getting used to traveling with CPAP. I started with trips where I was based in one place for a couple of weeks and then extended that to 1/2/3/4 day stops touring Tasmania. I did have the advantage of my own vehicle. At the end of the month I am going to London and will only have a vehicle for 5 of the 15 days I am there. I'm staying in four different locations. This will test my patience about traveling with a medical device. However, prior planning will make this much easier for me and I've done that planning. Previous experience has helped me develop a routine.

The bottom line is that I am connected to a machine for the rest of my life. I'm an inveterate traveler and my machine has become one of my traveling companions. A Z1 might be on my list as a future machine to make the trip easier but for now I have to make do with my full size Respironics.

[MrKDilkington]

I recently got diagnosed with OSA, and I'm considering pharyngoplasty - has anybody had any success with surgery?

A bit about me: I'm male, fit, asian, in my late 20's. I travel a lot and it'd be extremely difficult for me to carry a machine around for the rest of my life, and I don't see my physical shape getting significantly better when I'm in my 40's or 50's.

Thank you!

If you're looking for a surgery with the highest likelihood to keep you off CPAP for the rest of your life, I would recommend looking into corrective jaw surgery (via an oral & maxillofacial or orthognathic surgeon) rather than otolaryngology (ENT) based procedures. If your SDB is caused by a combination of issues in multiple regions of your upper airway (behind the tongue, soft palate, nasal), you'd need additional ENT based procedures besides expansion sphincter or lateral pharyngoplasty in order to address everything properly (e.g. genioglossus advancement for the tongue). Depending on the specific movements involved, corrective jaw surgery on the other hand can address every part of the upper airway to a much higher degree with longer lasting results. Since you're young & fit with SDB, you may very well have a jaw growth deformity as your primary cause of SDB, so in that case jaw surgery would be a no-brainer. With all that being said, you should still go on CPAP in the meantime to get some relief now. If CPAP relieves all of your symptoms I'd also recommend putting surgery off for a while because it's a big deal (i.e. it should be a last resort).