VERY SORRY FORUM PLEASE READ THIS POST!

[DyingOnMyFeet]

Hi everyone - I am posting this message to THANK ALL OF YOU who replied to my original post ? concerning surgery to fix OSA - I have spent many hours reading hundreds of past posts on the forum concerning people who had surgery to try and cure the OSA and the conclusion is they all failed they may have had some relief from OSA for some years following surgery but their OSA all returned just as bad as ever to bite them on the bum and they were forced back to cpap treatment to cope with their OSA only NOW they had terrible complications from having half their mouth removed which made returning to cpap treatment very difficult indeed - thank you so much you kind people for pointing me in the right direction and making the FATAL MISTAKE of pursuing surgery options to cure my OSA - in a nutshell surgery methods simply do not work in the long run and leave you with more problems than ever postsurgery and returing back to cpap to cope with OSA.

I have finally reaialsed that cpap is the GOLD STANDARD in fixing OSA in my case since the the three and a half years since using cpap my health and energy returned to such a degree that I was able to ride my bike for 40km a day and use a 1200 kal diet for nine months to lose 112 lbs pound of excess fat I lost 40 % of my total body weight how ever this huge lose of weight did not cure my OSA but I am sure it lowered my nightly AHI events plus I feel fantastic in body mind and sprit from my weight loss all due to cpap therapy so I now confess I will NOT be going ahead with my $5600.00 surgery to try and cure my OSA infact I can afford to buy a s9autoset cpap machine and several new masks and still have $2600.00 left over in my bank account once again thankkkkkkkk you so very much for guiding me to sanity and seeing the TRUTH - I think I must have been suffering from a large dose of wishful thinking and total ignorance of the facts I am quite sure now that my ENT surgeon was outright lying to me when he said he could cure my OSA with an operation which by the way is very painful to recover from - god bless you all here on this forum for helping me see the light - I WISH you ALL a very happy day and a peaceful nights sleep on your hose and cpap - much love from Peter from Australia.

[SleepyToo2]

Many congratulations on the weight loss, and on getting the apnea "monster" under control. I personally would never consider surgery, but I know some people do, and I respect that. However, as you found, the statistics are not very encouraging for the radical surgical options that we have available at present. Maybe some of the newer techniques on their own (deep tongue ablation, for example) will have some benefit for some people, but not for everyone. With the right attitude, and the right attention to detail when setting up a new patient with machine and mask, xpap can work wonders. In my case, I believe it has reversed, or is reversing, many of the challenges caused by the constant nocturnal hypoxia before I had treatment. That was over a long time, too! So, Peter from Australia, keep up the good work with the bike riding!

[sleepinglass]

Well done DOMF you have made a very wise choice.
You have done fantastically well! If you can do it, others can follow your lead and achieve what you have achieved also!
You took the time to research and found out the truth surgery is not the answer in the majority of cases, it ends up being a disaster.

Hopefully if others see your post before they go under the knife,they may change their mind, lets hope so!

Congratulations And WELL DONE!

[The Latinist]

Please don't apologize; you wanted, like many of us, to think that there was a "cure" for our OSA And everything you said about what your surgeon told you is, I'm sure, true. But surgeons are some of the most self-assured people in medicine (I imagine they have to be to cut into someone else's body). And they are sometimes the most overconfident people in medicine.

I applaud you for doing your research -- and even more so for being open to being convinced by it. It takes courage to admit when you've been wrong; some will go to any lengths to avoid doing so. If there is anything we can do to help you get the most out of your xPAP therapy, please ask.

[Luthie2006]

Congratulations on your decision!! I am a total newbie on here and at CPAP and am having my own issues with so much help from wonderful people on here like the Latinist, Pugsy and Chunky Frog and a lot of others! However, I can contribute a piece of information to you here regarding OSA surgery.

A very good friend of mine had severe sleep apnea. He tried and tried and tried the machine and could not get used to it, like a lot of us cannot. (Me included). So he went to Texas to a famous reknowned ENT surgeon who that's all he does all day long is UPP surgery (sorry I don't have the exact name, but you know which surgery I am referring to) My friend, Scott, said the recuperation time was absolutely horrible. They removed his uvula, and other parts of his mouth. (Not sure about his tongue). He finally recovered after months, and he is now left with whenever he drinks a liquid, the liquid comes out of his nose, if he drinks it fast. He has to remember to drink very slowly, and he still gets the liquid coming out of his nose. He can no longer drink coffee or any beverage that is colored such as cranberry juice, because it comes out of his nose the color of the beverage and grossed everyone around him out. He does claim, howeverr, that it did help his apnea and his bed partner claims he doesn't snore anymore. He had the procedure done 3 years ago and all is good he said except for everything coming out of his nose, which is horrendous! We don't know what will happen to Scott's apnea in 5, 10, 15 years from now. He is still a young man at 50 years old, no weight issues. So Peter, I am so glad you did not have that horrible tongue reduction surgery with terrible statistics down the road. This site is absolutely TERRIFIC and I love the people on here. I am praying that I can get used to the machine pressure, and this is even more reason, that I am determined to!! Good luck on your wise decision to avoid the surgery! Luthie2006

[avi123]

Just imagine an ENT like Dr Steve Park cutting off my uvula to improve my breathing and by doing so I would have never be able to pronounce correctly the name of my granddaughter CHANA. I would end up calling her HANA. Same story would be with calling my Holiday Hanukah instead of Chanukah. Those people born in the Middle East, Greece, etc. Arabs and Jews, and Christians there, need the Uvola to pronounce correctly,

Dr Steven Y Park, ENT

[chunkyfrog]

Persistence not only gives the intended reward, but it builds character.
You have earned your medal.

[BlackSpinner]

Thank you for your post. It was mature of you to come back and say this.
I am glad for your sake that you made this choice and congratulations on your weight loss and increased health.

[nanwilson]

WOW!!! Congratulations on both the weight loss and gain in better health. It took a great man to admit the error in your thinking... congrats is not enough!
Good luck with your further therapy and well being... don't forget to stay with this wonderful forum and keep us all posted.

[Goofproof]

Congrats on your decision, sounds like you are doing well. While you did your homework and did it right, many in De-Nile are given the same info, but still chose to keep swimming against the current. In the end, given the truth, our decisions are our own, we live with them.

After the last few years of using OTC allergy med's, I have weened myself off them. XPAP is doing the job for me, I couldn't live without it. Keep up the good work. Jim

[Sir NoddinOff]

DyingOnMyFeet: That's a great personal testimony, kudos for all the honesty plus the details of your decision. I would never tell anyone to absolutely not get the surgery, however I highly recommend anybody considering it to do their homework first (like you did, DyingOnMyFeet)