I plan to write up my whole experience, for the benefit of those who are considering this procedure. To answer your question, after the surgery, the splints (and probably the swelling of the tissue right behind them) limited the airflow to an amount that is barely enough to keep me alive, if I am at complete rest. In other words, if I am laying down in my bed, calmly resting, and try to breathe through the nose only, I could sustain that most of the time. I timed my breathing rate at around 5 BPM (!) But with any exertion, even to reach for a cup of water, that would be insufficient and I'd need to be breathing through my mouth. Sitting in a chair, I had to breathe mostly through my mouth: inhale though nose, exhale through mouth (for the humidification), and occasionally take a few breaths through the mouth only, to oxygenate better. Sipping water was helpful to keep the mouth moisturized. At night, I used the oral mask with the machine set at maximum humidification, but it was still not enough. This with all the saline nasal rinses, steam inhalations and showers, and ointments. With the splints out, I can now breathe through my nose just fine. There is still a lot of discharge that crusts as it dries out, but it doesn't prevent me from breathing through my nose. I even slept last night without the machine for the first time in ages (propped up in bed), and it seemed just alright. I'll do it again tonight and I'll see how it goes. I wish I could get some breathing data, but how to get it without the machine? Don't you wish there was a way to get the same data we get from our CPAP machines, but without one (or when you have a "brick")? Well, that shouldn't be too difficult to make happen, but it's a topic for another time.stevej1234 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 07, 2019 8:53 amMcSleepy, Can you explain "inability to breathe"? Were you mouth breathing the whole time? Anyway, kudos to you for going through this trouble, hopefully you'll tell us it was worth it in a month or so.
By the way, at the appointment yesterday my surgeon once again mentioned about this new surgical procedure that is supposed to be designed to treat/alleviate OSA: AirLift. Anybody heard about it?
McSleepy
