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SLEEP APNEA


Nighty Nite!!
Sleep, a good nights sleep. Most of us take that for granted! Well, unless you are a mother of small children, then you wonder if you will ever get a whole night again! And of course most of us have had restless, sleepless nights. But, there are many folks out there who "sleep" but don't really get any rest at all.

I must say it was terrifying to watch someone who has this problem. They stop breathing, sometimes for almost a minute or more and when they "come to", they gasp, and it sounds like they are in pain. And you are helpless to just watch this. The snoring really is so insignificant compared to watching someone you love gasping for air.

The first thing I did was to get online and look up information. I had only heard of this condition once before. A man I had previously worked with was saying he had to sleep with a machine because he stopped breathing at night. Well my imagination really couldn't comprehend at the time what he was saying. I had nothing to line that up with. But when I watched my husband in this state I knew this had to be connected to what the other man had. This must be Sleep Apnea. So, I printed some of the online information and gave it to him to read. I talked with his children (we have both been previously married) and they informed me he had always done this for as long as they could remember! Well, this wasn't going to stay this way if I could help it, but Harry was a very work oriented person and taking time off to figure all this out just wasn't going to fit easily into his routine.

I pressed on, and it turned out one of the regulars in a chat room that I was always roaming around in had sleep apnea too and he was adamant that I take this very seriously and just make an appointment for my husband. Just tell him when to show up. Well you know that is a little uncomfortable for a new wife, but then I began to become very afraid for his life, so I just did it. I made an appointment but it was a month away! Finally a sleep test was arranged.

This wasn't just a simple thing. Harry would have to drive south for an hour and a half, be hooked up to all kinds of wires, go to sleep, then get up and drive back three hours to work.

Well he had his test. Then we waited. We were told it would take several weeks to read the tests and then determine other factors, such as if he needed surgery or could just use a machine and what type of machine.

Well, we were called after several days! His apnea was very severe (which of course I knew) and they wanted him in right away for x-rays to rule out a surgical solution.

I can tell you what the tests said in lay mans terms... this man had 327 apneas! Trust me, this is a bad case, an unreal number for a 6-hour sleep. His oxygen saturation went as low as 40% and it should be about 85%. He never went into the deep delta sleep. The gal in the other room watching said she had never seen anything like it and had gone to the door several times saying under her breath,,, "breathe, breathe"!! So in essence, my Harry was not really resting. And not really sleeping, nor getting enough oxygen intake into his body when he did. This had been going on for more then 20 years! What actually was happening with Harry was that his windpipe would collapse and close off the air passage.

Harry went in for x-rays and as often happens, he was called in again for more just to be sure. Then, that evening, after surgery had been ruled out. Harry broke his leg in our home!
It was broken in three places and he was going to have to have surgery and screws to get him straightened out.

Harry had to have a spinal for surgery because they were afraid to put him under due to the sleep apnea, and now that the hospital was aware of his condition, he could not be sent home without a machine.

They also found that his heart muscle was thicker then usual because of all the strain of beating when he was not breathing. This was quite scary to know.

I am not sure who was more excited about this machine! Harry or me because I knew for the first time in 20 yrs he was going to actually sleep deeply and wake up feeling like a million and I was gonna get to see a new human being really! And it was awesome.

He later told me how many times he fell asleep at the wheel while driving and waking up when he hit gravel. I am glad he had kept that from me. And I was very aware at how often he would be talking and just doze off. All because he never really had deep sleep. And we actually did pull off the side of the road so he could doze!!! Now he can hardly make himself take a nap. His body just doesn't require it.

Honestly the machine is a bit hard at first. The pressure for him was at the highest setting. The nurse actually lowered it for him a little because it was so overpowering. And I had nightmares for about a month. Maybe it was odd sleeping with a "masked man"!! None of that mattered though because the love of my life was breathing, sleeping, and resting. And that is just pure joy to me.

So if you suspect you have this problem, or know someone who does....Talk to them, give them some information... contact me if you like, Just having the machine has improved all aspects of my Harry's life by 100%!!!

American Sleep Apnea Association
Sleep Quest!
The Lung Associations Sleep Apnea Page
Dr.Koop.com!

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