I've been Inspired..... for Sleep Apnea!

So spent yesterday in the hospital for out-patient procedure. Came home last night after having the Inpsire device Implanted into my body.

This is a fairly new treatment for Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Many folks use a CPAP external device for this, but due to some past trauma, I don't handle the mask on my face and air blasting into me well at all. In fact was a nasty flashback experiences and a month of nightmares for me when I tried the CPAP.

(Photo courtesy of Inspire web site, see link below)

So, I started looking for other options a year ago and found this. I did some research and it looked like the perfect fit for me.

For those that don't know, Obstructive Sleep Apnea is when your tongue and throat close up at night when the muscles relax, basically blocking your airway. When I did a sleep study all wired up and had this measured, I would stop breathing 63 times an hour. This was resulting in my blood oxygen saturation levels (O2 Sat) dropping to like 80% (when it should be near 98%). Over time, this resulted in high blood pressure and elevated heart rate as my heart struggled to keep up (requiring daily meds).

This device was implanted into my body. There were three incisions. One in the rib cage where a sensor is placed that monitors my breathing. Another below the collarbone where the main unit is, and then another under the chin, where a wire is run to the muscles near the base of the tongue.

(Photo courtesy of Inspire web site, see link below)

The device then monitors breathing and provides a small electrical stimulation to the base of the tongue and throat area, contracting the muscles so the airway stays open. This also reduces snoring in over 90% of patients. My wife is looking forward to that! We may actually be able to share a bed again. My snoring had gotten so bad it would often wake her even from other room down the hallway, or wake up myself, lol.

(Photo courtesy of Inspire web site, see link below)

I'm now waiting a week for the incision's and implant to heal, will go back in a week for checkup, then a month later, activate the system and try it out. Part of the process was an earlier test, where I went to the hospital, they put me to sleep and then conducted a test by inserting electrodes through the mouth temporarily to verify that the stimulation would function as expected, which it did. Passing that test was exciting, now I'm excited for month of healing to be over so we can turn
it on!

(Photo courtesy of Inspire web site, see link below)