How Appearance Changed After Sleep Apnea Procedure - Peggy's Story
Hello. I am Peggy Swift and I have a diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea. I have been tested four different times in sleep labs and at home and found that I have serious disease. I have been using different kinds of masks over my nose, over my mouth, and each time I have complained that I don’t feel I am getting relief. I found myself lifting up the mask and gasping for air, and they did find that I was not getting relief through these various sleep tests that they were conducting.
Eventually they decided I probably needed to see a specialist surgeon and I was sent to see one. This person was Dr. Perry Mansfield. This is his specialty. He is a head and neck specialist. He went ahead and did advanced testing by looking into my nose, my sinuses, going down my throat and seeing my airway. This showed him that my airway was not very normal. I had everything out of sync with deviated septum’s and sinuses that were not working and a very narrow airway and large tongue, large tonsils.
So with much discussion, the decision was made that I really required surgery to correct this problem. So I elected to have the surgery, and it was done at this hospital, and when we came in for the surgery, it was a very calming experience because I was well instructed. I knew exactly what to expect. The staff was very knowledgeable and I was prepared well by Dr. Mansfield and his staff.
When we, they put me under, he told me that the minute he had me in position to start the surgery, when I was in position for him to start with the throat, he found that my tonsils, my palate and my tongue all came together. And obstructed my airway totally, and this showed him that I was very lucky that I wasn’t dying when I went to sleep because it totally obstructed my airway.
So he did that surgery. He took care of the deviated septum. He took care of the abnormal sinuses, opened them, and I now can not only breathe through my nose, but I can get air down my airway without any problem. I fully feel that I am not going to be needing my CPAP machine because he encouraged me to lose weight. I have lost quite a bit of weight and I will be tested again at the end of the month with another sleep study, and I am very hopeful that we’ll have a great improvement in my sleep, and I have him to credit for it. He did a wonderful job on my surgery, and I am really grateful to Dr. Perry Mansfield.
When I came into the office about a month after the surgery for a check-up, Dr. Mansfield smiled and said, “Not only have you lost weight, but I didn’t recognize you because you are no longer gray. You have pink cheeks and you have great color.” This also was something that a friend said to me, “You look so different. I know you have lost weight,” but, and then they said, “You’ve got color. You no longer look gray,” because I am getting air now. I am getting oxygen into my blood because I can breathe again, and I didn’t realize how badly it was that I could not breathe.