APAP use with Nasal mask after Cataract Surgery

First, let me say Hi to all of you.

I have been away for a while trying to retire.
But, I obviously am not that good at it, because I am still only about 90% retired.
Seems like the more free time I have, the less free time I have.

I had Cataract Surgery on my left eye (using a "Toric" lens for astigmatism) last Wednesday 6-10-15

Nothing on the eye was needed nor used after the cataract surgery, but they do recommend that you wear your eyeglasses during the day to protect the eye from bumps & you trying to rub it.
For night use, they give you this plastic eye cup with lots of holes in it for air circulation.
Again, to keep you from rubbing your eye as you sleep.

I can not use my Nasal Mask because the plastic eye cup is just large enough that it intrudes on the area where the mask would sit.
I have tried Nasal Pillow masks before but they all failed horribly because I could never get them to seal with the straps that each mask uses.

Ophthalmologist tells me that even if I could somehow get the Nasal Mask to seal with the eye cup I should not do that because putting pressure on the eye cup & thus the eye needs to be avoided for at least 5 days.
Even after the 5 days, I need to be careful that no pressure is exerted on that eye.

I sleep most of the time at night in my recliner because of back problems.
I have found that I can still sleep in my recliner without using my APAP if I make sure that I stay sitting upright all night.
But, that wreaks havoc on my back problems & to say that it causes much pain would be an understatement.

My ophthalmologist is experienced, qualified, & easy to talk to. Yep, they do exist!
So, I am getting all of the medical guidance I need.

What I am looking for is some real-life experiences with this.
Did you have to go without your XPAP after cataract surgery? How did you cope?

I have at least 2 more nights left without my APAP & then in 2 weeks I will have to do this all over again for the 2nd eye.

Isn't life a bitch?

I just had cataract surgery in my right eye last Thursday. I can't wear my full face mask on account of the shield and besides if I leak air around the nose at night I don't want air going into that eye. I slept Thursday and Friday night in the recliner but I do have a Swift FX so tonight I'm going to use it and if I leak out my mouth at times so be it. I don't have a chin strap and I'm not going to tape cause if I have to cough any it would put pressure on the eye and that is a no, no. I'm doing the other eye in 4 weeks so I guess it's the FX for awhile and leaks, so the next month and a half I'll not worry about great therapy, I'll just get what I can get and don't worry about it.

THANKS squid13 for the fast reply.

I stumbled upon the "Nano" I had tried months earlier while looking for a "mouthguard" I had also previously tried.

I was thinking the same thing.
Even though the Nano leaked like a #^%^$& when I tried it previously, I was going to try to use it tonight to avoid having to do the sitting up thingy.

I would have to use it without my chinstrap & will probably also get some mouth leakage, but what the hey - you gotta do what you gotta do.

I will get to use my Nasal mask in between the 2 surgeries.

Everything is progressing on schedule for the 1st eye and my ophthalmologist will do the 2nd eye 2 weeks after the 1st if everything continues that way.

Cataract Surgery today is simple & straightforward.
Actual outpatient surgery (even with the Toric lens) took only about 15 minutes & they kept me 45 minutes afterwards for observation.

Only downside is that neither Medicare nor my secondary BC/BS pays for the Toric lens.
Actually, no insurance will pay for the Toric lens.
They will pay only for the plain old monofocal lens & I have to pay the rest out of pocket ($1,633 for each eye.
This "Balance Billing" is legal & even Medicare says it can be done.

But, it is expected that I will no longer need any glasses at all for distance vision and will need only non RX "reading" glasses for close up.
After only 3 days, I can already tell the difference.

THANKS again for your input.
That is exactly what I was looking for.

A couple of things to consider...

If you have an extra eye cup as well as an extra nasal mask you may be able to get them to work together and fit by some careful trimming. For example you could trim the eye cup to miss the nasal mask seal then add something like mole skin to smooth out any rough edges. You will most likely have to layer as you get ready for bed. You would first put on your mask then the eye cup would be put on and adjusted as necessary. Depending on how things fit you may also have to trim the mask gasket down a little. On a temporary basis you can probably get by with around half the width of the gasket. It may leak a little but you should still be able to get some decent sleep.

The second idea involves a nasal pillow mask. You are worried about the strap putting additional pressure on the eye cup. Using a combination of foam, bandages, dressings, and tape you should be able to build up areas of your face to keep the strap off of the eye cup. Think of yourself staring in an alien movie and needing to have a lopsided face to achieve some visual effect.

In addition you can increase the width of the nasal pillow mask straps. I am using the Nuance mask and its straps are roughly 0.5" wide. Increasing that to 1.0" will reduce the pressure on the face because it is spread out over a larger area.

By the way, if you build up your face be sure to take notes and save them for next Halloween. There is nothing quite as fun as watching the children come up to a house where they are greeted by a retired old fart that looks like a monster from outer space handing out treats.

I could of got the multifocal lenses but would of cost $1900 per eye out of pocket and then I would not need glasses at all. I tried them when in a pair of glasses and couldn't get use to them so I wasn't going to put those in and then say I can't stand these, so I took the monofocal lens. I always thought the stove and frig were a light tan color and just found out there bright white. It comes on so gradual you don't realize the color change. I'm using my wife's 2.5 readers to type this and it's nice and clear, can't wait to get the other one done to see how everything looks.Other than no lifting, bending or straining for two weeks it's not bad except for the eye drops from two bottles 4 times a day and one bottle 1 time a day. I thought they were just getting started to my surprise they were all done and wheeling me out as you say it doesn't take long. Medicare and Blue Cross covered it all so I'm happy. Hope everything works out OK for you.

You are right, colors are much more vibrant even at this early stage.

I think you made the right decision not to get the multifocal lens.
People with those complain of a "halo" around bright lights (even in the home).
That sometimes goes away with time, but often it does not.

As you probably know the monofocal lens or even the multifocal lens don't do anything for the astigmatism I have, so I pretty much had no choice but to step up to the Toric lens which is pretty much the monofocal lens except that it also deals with the astigmatism. No longer needing any Rx eyeglasses makes the additional cost acceptable to me - well at least bearable.

I tried on the Nano mask & although it is smaller than my regular Nasal Mask, it also does overlap the eye cup.

But, wearing an old pair of eyeglasses I still have will allow me to use the Nano mask without having to make any alterations.

The eye cup is just there to protect the eye from yourself while you sleep.
The old pair of eyeglasses does that just as well.

Experimentation tonight will be the true test.

Wish I had kept 1 of the nasal pillow masks I also trialed instead of the Nano.

A nasal pillow mask would be the best option.

In fact, if I wake in the AM to go to the bathroom & still have some sleeping time left, I usually take off the eye cup & put on the sunglasses they provided in my discharge kit - because the sun coming up in the east comes into the corner of the large window in the room where my recliner is.
The sunglasses allow me to sleep longer in that room.

In the past, I had to move to the bed once the sun came up.
But now I have learned that the sunglasses will allow me to remain in the recliner much longer - so I will continue to use them even after both surgeries.

Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

Well, the Nano did not work.

Even though I can place it so it won't overlap the eye cup (just misses it), any movement of the cushion would put it on the eye cup & that would not be a good outcome.

Besides, it leaks so badly, I also would be afraid that some of that air would get into the eye.

My Cataract Surgery was last Wednesday 6-10-15 & each night I have been able to get in more & more hours of "restful" sleep without my APAP by just sitting straight up in the recliner. Last night, I got 8.5 Hours straight whereas the night after the Cataract Surgery, I could not get more than 2 Hours straight.

So, that brings up my other related post Re having a different type of mask "just in case".
That discussion can be found at viewtopic/t106250/ResMed-Nano-N10-amp-P10.html

I had cataract surgery in September, and was concerned about this very thing. It turned out I had nothing to worry about; my F10 mask and the eye shield were a perfect fit. They didn't interfere with each other. I suppose a lot depends on the size and shape of your face, your particular mask, etc. If your eyes are close together it might not work as well as for people whose eyes are farther apart, etc. I had been afraid I would have to doctor up the shield to make the two fit together.

You might want to look at the TapPap mask. It is nasal pillow with NO headgear. It uses a mouthpiece instead. If you need to stay away from the bridge of your nose and not apply pressure to your cheeks, I can't think of a better solution.

I had left eye cataract surgery with a Toric lens about a year ago. I had no problems sleeping with my Airfit P10 nasal pillows mask, which I had been using for a few months before surgery. I had been using APAP for about 4 years at that point.

My cataract surgery and the Toric lens were a disaster for me, but sleeping with my regular nasal pillows mask was no issue at all for me. Make sure you feel comfortable with the first cataract surgery before you do the second. I was supposed to have the right eye done 2 weeks after the first surgery, but after the problems with the cataract surgery that I had, I prefer to keep my right eye's cataract. I understand that my bad experience with the cataract surgery evidently is unusual.

Good luck. Let us know what works for you.

MarylandCPAPer wrote:I had left eye cataract surgery with a Toric lens about a year ago.

My cataract surgery and the Toric lens were a disaster for me

Just curious - what went wrong?

Had cat surgery on left eye about a year ago, told Doc about my cpap and he gave me the plastic cap to cover my eye. I use a Quattro FFM and had no problems fitting both mask & cover. Eye never had a problem, now I need the right eye done, prednisone sucks.Good luck with your recovery...

The purpose of the eye shield is so you don't rub your eye when your sleeping. I am not an eye rubber when I sleep. Here is a link of cat doctors talking about this subject. http://www.eyeworld.org/article-to-shie ... -to-shield

Well, I am past the 5 day rule my ophthalmologist uses for the shield.
Actually, I have slept with the shield for 7 nights.

So, tonight, I will sleep without the shield & try again to use my ResMed Nano Nasal Mask.

I probably would be OK even if I used my ResMed Mirage Activa LT Nasal Mask, but out of an abundance of caution (OK, I am just anal about such things), that mask is much larger & would put more pressure closer to the eye - and I want to avoid that as much as possible.

I will also "tape" for the 1st time in my long CPAP use so that I do not have to use my chinstrap (again only out of an abundance of caution).

Unless the Nano leaks like a sieve, I expect to use that mask until my 2nd eye is done and also heals.

Am due for a whole mask in about a week.
May try the N10 again since it has a better strap than the P10 or the Nano.

I do love my Activa LT Nasal Mask, but would love to have something "smaller" for just such occasions (not that I plan on doing this again).

StuUnderPressure wrote:

MarylandCPAPer wrote:I had left eye cataract surgery with a Toric lens about a year ago.

My cataract surgery and the Toric lens were a disaster for me

Just curious - what went wrong?

I sent you a PM. My problems with cataract surgery had nothing to do with CPAP and are probably not typical.