Sleep Apnea

It is nasty. It can cause heart attacks, strokes and death.

It is Sleep Apnea.

People with lung disease often have Sleep Apnea and most are tested for it. I was tested in 2005. I did not have it but they did discover that during REM sleep, my oxygen saturation rate dropped into the low 70’s. It should be 100%. This is when they discovered that I needed to use my regular supplemental oxygen at night.

Sherman had not been feeling well. He seemed to be out of breath more than usual. He talked it over with the nurses at rehab and his doctor.

About two weeks ago, he was telling me that he falls asleep in a recliner during the evening after dinner then wakes up around 11:00 to go to bed. His daughters have told him that while he is asleep in the recliner, he flails his arms and legs. I knew that was a possible sign of Sleep Apnea.

I told him about Sleep Apnea and its relationship to lung disease. He called his doctor and arranged a sleep test.

A sleep tests is interesting. It begins with an arrival to the hospital in the evening while in PJ’s, sitting in a chair while they hook up electrodes to different areas of the head with a gooey gel, tape tiny microphones under a nostril and near the corner of an eye, and sensors on the arms and legs.

Now the climb into the bed is a bit interesting with all the wires. Try to sleep! They don’t want the patients to use any sleep aids as it may affect the results of the test. During the night, cameras are keeping track of each patient and the images are fed into a room of people who monitor the tests throughout the night.

If there are 10 or more incidences of the patient stop breathing during each hour, the diagnosis is Sleep Apnea.

Sherman got his test results. His saturation level went below 50% during the test. It is amazing that he did not have a stroke, heart attack or died from lack of oxygen. He doesn’t know how many times he stopped breathing during the night but they did diagnosis him with Sleep Apnea.

He got his equipment and slept with it for the first time last night. He said he slept for six hours – the longest he has slept in many years. He was thrilled.

He is going to feel so much better.