"Sort of" a new member!

[Dagswe21]

Hello everyone.
I wasn't sure where to post this, as I'm not sure which topic it comes under, so apologies in advance if this is the wrong place for my post.

I "joined" last year, around October '16 I think, posting about blood co2 retention and acidity.

To cut a long, complex, quite boring story, short, after another month or so in hospital (including Christmas and New Year; if it weren't for my awesome family and friends visiting, it would have been the worst ever!!), and two bouts of severe pneumonia, I have now officially been diagnosed as having: Sleep Apnea, caused by my scoliosis, which limits the action of my diaphragm during REM sleep, and, as before, also causing blood co2 retention.

So, I will soon be joining many of you, as I am awaiting assessment for a home bipap machine. My assessment is on 19th January. Until then, the doctors have agreed, that I will have an Arterial Blood Gas test tomorrow (5th) and if it's ok, I can go home and await my bipap assessment, so long as I return to the hospital twice a week for another ABG test to ensure things are ok. If the results look dodgy, I will be re admitted so I can go on bipap in hospital.
The long wait is because I am going to - I'm told - one of the best centers for this subject in the U.K., if not most of Europe, in London. So please expect updates, questions, etc, as I slowly get my head around things!!

Happy New Year to all and I look forward to being more "active" in these forums, once I get "bipap-ed up"!!

[Sleeprider]

Welcome back, and sorry for the holiday setback. Bilevel machines can use pressure support to encourage better ventilation and gas exchange. This can be a real help to someone with physical issues that restrict lung volume or diaphragm movement. We don't know if you will be on AVAPS, which can increase pressure support on a breath by breath basis to assure volume, but even simple bilevel helps.

Best of luck in your upcoming evaluations, and getting back to normal.

[sonicboom]

Welcome back and keep us posted on your progress. Many others can and will benefit from your experience and story. I hope you keep coming back to help others as well.

[richb]

Hi again Dagswe21. I remember your first thread. I hope you can get your machine this time around. Keep us posted.

Rich

[chill]

Welcome back! The link between sleep apnea and scoliosis is an interesting one to me as I also have scoliosis. Thanks for mentioning that, I'd not thought of it. It is another piece of evidence that I may have had apnea since I was a child.

[Beej]

Interesting. I have scoliosis, too. It was surgically straightened by half so I am about 26 degrees off vertical.
With severe scoliosis, it can compress the area available for the heart and lungs to function (why I had the surgery).

[trish6hundred]

Hi Dagswe21,
Good to hear from you again; I hope you are able to get your machine so you can start CPAP therapy.
Good luck to you and I hope to hear more from you.

[Dagswe21]

Hi,

I had my scoliosis stabilized, not corrected, by surgery when I was 16, I'm now 40. My Consultant (highest rank of doctor, here in UK) said:

During R.E.M. Sleep, everyone's upper chest becomes "paralyzed" (its normal), with the diaphragm "taking over" the breathing automatically.

If one has scoliosis, especially severe, the diaphragm is already weaker, and the lungs are squashed a bit, making a huge contribution to the chances of apnea, pneumonias, etc....

Just reporting what he said. I'm still learning, so feel free to contradict or comment!
Ps - did you have your scoliosis stabilized or corrected at all?

[kwhenrykerr]

It is good to hear from you, glad that you will be getting help. You are bringing information to us. We all help each other.

[Beej]

... Ps - did you have your scoliosis stabilized or corrected at all?

Yes. I had a Harrington rod spinal fusion to stabilize the curve and correct as much as possible. They took bone chips from the left pelvis rim and wedged them between the vertebrae on the left side to push the spine straighter, then lay the rod along the left side and anchored it with bone chips. I was about 56 degrees off vertical; now I am about 26 degrees off vertical. I'm not in chronic back pain since the surgery healed. If I try to twist the fused portion, it can't and will hurt (badminton was a really bad idea!).