AHI 131 !! - Help me understand my SleepStudy & CPAP results

Thanks everyone!

Has anyone heard from or about Kenwood since his surgery last Friday? I'm hoping everything went well and that he's having a smooth recovery.

I'm doing good. It's so nice to breathe freely again. Just got the surgical staples removed from my neck this morning.


Surgery – Friday, Sept 6th (10:30am)- My surgery went very well and it was best-case scenario as the damage to my trachea was not as bad as expected and my surgeon was able to do BOTH sides with no need for a tracheostomy. According to the 9-page “Operation Report” my surgeon provided me. My surgeon said he loves a challenge and I provided him with one – as mine lasted almost 6 hours. I was given endotracheal anesthesia. Due to my trachea compression they had to use a smaller intubation tube. The right goiter was 8cm and left goiter was 7cm-8cm and they were firm. The left goiter was growing below my upper chest plate-which I kind of guessed. I vaguely remembering waking up in the recovery room ask asked my surgeon if he did both sides – he said YES he removed both sides…and I told him “I love you”. LOL! Next thing I remember was I woke in the ICU room and it was 5:30pm. I immediately noticed I could breath easier and the pressure off my trachea was gone. I had an “auto-blood draw” line in my left hand and the IV line in right hand. Plus a drain tube in my neck. I also had a catheter too. My throat was sore from the intubation tube but I could whisper talk. I wasn’t in much discomfort except for all the crap connected to me. My calcium levels were still very low. I was able to text family members and watch some TV. Surgeon checked in on me, spoke with my wife for a while, before leaving the hospital for the night. Had a “liquid dinner” and the warm broth felt good on my throat more so than the Italian ice thing. My back was sore from being in the hospital bed (I need to crack my back a lot during the day, so I was unable to do this). It got to the point where I rang the nurse and asked what I could do to sit up. I asked if I could sit on the edge of bed, so my legs could hang over. The nurse said they could bring in a recliner chair and they moved me and all my lines into this recliner chair and OMG that made the difference for me in comfort – as I was sitting in a chair versus being in that bed. I wasn’t tired and asked for a sleeping pill and fell asleep around 2am in the recliner. Some of the nurses even mentioned that my surgeon is very picky on the care of his patients.

Saturday, Sept 7th – The day was mostly uneventful - Just constant checking on my calcium levels. But towards the evening, I started have problems and had to ring the nurse. My right hand with the IV started to hurt around the line. They had just finished a magnesium bag in my IV. But it wasn’t the tingly feeling that we are all supposed to be aware of so much. Once my calcium levels crossed into the acceptable (but still on the low end of the scale) they removed the “auto-blood draw” line in my left hand – and that made me happy to get that sucker off. They then moved me to a private room from the ICU. Later my hand started to hurt more. This is where everyone was stumped a bit as my calcium levels were okay, but my right hands was now starting to hurt. It felt more muscle pain that started to slowly go up to my bicep muscle too. They immediately drew new blood labs, but my calcium levels were stable from the previous pull from two hours earlier. This was really my first pain from this surgery and I was not on any pain meds yet. Had some soft foods for dinner. I asked for a sleeping pill and a low-level pain pill so I could sleep that night. I was still in the recliner and I was able to use my CPAP to sleep.

Sunday, Sept 8th – I woke up around 4am in a lot of discomfort and rang the nurse to help the recliner go into the chair position. I told them both my forearms where throbbing and my hands were cold. Time for more blood work. My surgeon was notified when my calcium checked out okay. The on staff doctor checked me out and everything was still okay with my calcium levels. Since I was eating and drinking normal, they disconnected the IV line, so I had that hand free again. They also took out that damn catheter so I could now walk around and use the bathroom normally. In the afternoon, the doctor checked me out again and my calcium levels were good so they started the discharge process. They left the drain tube in and I would get that removed on Monday at my surgeon’s office. I was out of the hospital around 1pm and glad to be home. My forearms were still sore and my wife massaging them with her thumbs helped. I slept on the couch.

Monday, Sept 9th – My forearm pain was better when I woke up. Went to my surgeon’s office and had the drain tube removed. We discussed my arm pain, but it could just be from the lines in my hands. I think it was a combo of the lines in my arms and the way I was sitting in the recliner and not calcium related. He put the laryngoscopy down my nose and looked at vocal cords. Everyone the doctor’s office seemed to say my neck staples/scar looked good and that I need to start turning my neck and not my body. It’s that mental thing I have to get over. I’ll come back on Thursday and have my staples out.

Tuesday, Sept 10th – My hands feel much better today and I think I’m over that problem and it will continue to get better. Noticed that my voice was much stronger today.



This was my incision from the front of my neck (below my goatee) looked over the weekend.

Ken, thanks for checking in -- it sounds like you're doing really well after an intense surgery experience and the endocrine changes that follow it. Keep us posted when you can, good wishes are still coming your way.

After reading some of Pugsy's posts regarding the Nano and hoses. I'm gonna try tonight......Swift FX Pillow on my Aloha short tube.

I was glad to hear your progress report.