It's almost three in the afternoon and I'm trying to get enough caffeine, thyroid med and ALCAR on board to get enough energy to go feed my ponies. The full face mask lasted less than two hours. I have to check with my doc on Monday to see if he was able to get the lower pressure request going. It took me six weeks to get meaningful help from the ResMed CME folks before with lame excuses about being not well enough staffed. They seem to be very much in "blame the patient" mode. Sorry for the rant but I badly need this to work - I didn't survive three cancers and a couple of major surgeries a in the past two years to have my life shut down by a stupid machine and system that doesn't work. Did I mention I'm frustrated? And thank you forum folks for being here - at least I now know I'm not the only one : )
Patti in AZ
Being prepared for the aftermath of surgery helps any recovery go more smoothly. After thyroid surgery, gelato, sherbet, ice cream and protein shakes were my friends - great excuse to indulge. When that gets boring, move on to soups, etc. Plan on sleeping with your head elevated either with pillows or in a recliner - this helps drainage and reduces swelling. Get ice packs ahead of time - either flexible gel ice packs from the drug store or several bags of frozen peas you can rotate. Ice melts and gets messy. Ask about a prescription for "miracle mouth wash" - a combination of numbing and pain meds. This can make the difference in being able to swallow at all. Even if you don't normally have acid reflux - a bout of it after throats surgery can be excruciating. Taking some cimetidine or Pepsid OTC ( or ask your doc for a prescription) can keep this from happening. And don't be afraid of pain meds or getting lots of sleep especially the first few days. Pain inhibits your body's ability to heal and there's nothing to be gained by avoiding pain meds when you need them. Rest is a large component of early healing and it can take general anesthesia up to 72 hours to clear your system. It can be a shock for some of this that after surgery we can't just pop up out of bed and resume where we left off
I don't see how a home sleep study could determine the pressure needed. I had a lab study done several years ago which was a waste as I couldn't sleep long enough. I've been trying to do this since March. I think my settings are 4-20 which might just be a machine "default range"?; it's ridiculous that I can't adjust my own settings. I can manage maybe two to four hours before I wake up choking and gasping - this seems to occur at pressures around 10-11. If I'm just relaxing or reading with my cpap, it's comfortable and soothing up to a pressure of 8 or 8.5 and I feel refreshed after a light afternoon nap. I had major abdominal surgery in the middle of my insurance compliance period and couldn't use the cpap at all - I was afraid the bloating from swallowing air might actually tear something and it was acutely painful - so I only used it when I was awake for the minimum to make compliance. Using a nasal mask which doesn't work well if I don't have dentures in; they sent me some nasal pillows but they must have been made for an elephant as they don't fit at all (even the "small"). It took me six weeks to get them. I'm trying a full mask tonight that a friend had extra - I think it's a littl big but will give me an idea. I can't afford to buy different masks to try so I'm limited to three month trials (if I can actually get to talk to someone at the supplier). Meanwhile I called my doc and asked that they do whatever it is they have to do to get the pressure lowered. As a nurse and a cancer patient I'm pretty adept at navigating the system but this has been ridiculous. Without the cpap I sleep for twelve hours and find it difficult to drag myself out of bed and care for my ranch and horses. With the cpap I only sleep a couple of hours and find it difficult to drag myself out of bed, etc.
