So my story begins in 2003 when my wife noticed during my snoring sleep that I stopped breathing. Upon mentioning this to my Dr. I was referred to a local pulmonologist who prescribed a sleep study. My study showed that I had OSA (Obstructive Sleep Apnea). It was pretty severe for a 6'7" fairly fit male who was only 29 years old. Of course my Pulmonologist recommended CPAP and mentioned oral appliances, BIMAX, and others as a possible surgical fix. So I was given the standard band aid, a CPAP machine set at 6psi of pressure, a passive humidifier, and a nose mask.
Well the nose mask didn't work so well for me, I was just loosing all the air pressure out of my mouth and waking up with dry mouth and still very little good sleep. I'm by nature a mouth breather with a high arch palate and narrow nasal passages, on top of a broken, crooked nose from a sledding accident when I was a kid. So I went for another sleep study and was given a full face mask. This worked ok for a while, but I found I removed the mask at night or didn't wear it at all due to the un comfort of air being pumped into my body and what I think is a sub conscious felling of claustrophobia. I somewhat investigated oral appliances but couldn't get anywhere with the only dentist in the area who offer it as they couldn't get either the medical or dental insurance to pay for it. So I suffered on. Dry mouth led to a active humidifier. More suffering, led to a visit to and ENT who only performed UPPP surgery. He didn't recommend it for me, said it would most likely be unsuccessful in curing my OSA. So I suffered on. Now google sleep deprivation......this is serious.......
Fast forward to 2010. My CPAP is now on 10psi and another full face mask has failed to keep me from pulling it off at night, every morning I wear the mask, I wake up with a barrage of explosive gas from an entire night of being pumped full of air.....My last sleep study shows I have Severe OSA..... I'm finally fed up with being sleep deprived and all its symptoms, as well as keeping my wife up at night, I decided to seriously pursue the bimax surgery. But I couldn't find anyone in my area who performed the surgery. I called many ENT's, Pulmonologists, and Dentists and no one knew of any local surgeons that performed it. So my Dr. referred me to the University of Michigan Sleep Apnea Clinic. Here I met with ENT's, Oral Surgeons, Neurologist, had a nose scope, a CT of the head, and they made a determination that the BIMAX was the procedure that gives me the best chance at a cure. I was then prepped by one of the Oral surgeons of all the horrors that are associated with the procedure. In spite of the horrors, I've made the commitment to move on. Today is February 3rd, 2010 and my surgery is scheduled for March 11, 2010. I'm very nervous, wondering if this is a good idea, wondering if I'll loose feeling in my face? Many worries, and hopes of a cure.
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