Hello, all - It has been a long, long time since I last visited the Forum. I'm happy to report that my hard palate (half of it that is left) is healthy and I'm coming up on 9 years cancer-free.

I'm writing today because it seems my palatectomy/maxillectomy may have altered my soft palate tissue to the point that I have severe sleep apnea (AHI = 30-45) when I sleep on my back. Since 2016, I've had two major surgeries (shoulder repair and spinal fusion from T10-S1) that required me to sleep on my back for long periods of time. The spinal fusion, as it's extensive, may have me permanently sleeping on my back. I knew that I had been waking myself up during the night with gasps for air when I slept this way, but I was not aware it was ALL NIGHT LONG until my daughter returned from college last November (I have been living alone for the last five years). She could hear me stopping breathing constantly throughout the night.

I saw a sleep specialist yesterday who is one of the best in my region of the U.S., and he has only seen this type of apnea once before, in a patient who also had radical palate surgery. I do not fit the profile of a "typical" sleep apnea patient in any way, as I'm thin, healthy, and a non-smoker and non-drinker. The sleep specialist said that Yes, my palatectomy left my soft palate hanging down in the back of my throat, and that that is what is causing my sleep apnea. A CPAP is useless (I tried it for a month -- it made it far worse).

Has anyone here had a similar issue? If so, what did you need to do to treat the sleep apnea? Surgery has been proposed as a possible only solution, but I am trying to avoid yet another major surgery!

Thanks!