Sleep Apnia

Dad went for a sleep study in Abilene. They hooked him up with all sorts of wires and put him in a special monitoring room. In this room he underwent a "split-night" study. During the night they record how often he stops breathing and if it is more than a certain number, then they hook him up to a mask to see if it helps and what the settings need to be.

It was determined that dad has serious Obstructive Sleep Apnia. A mask was tried the second part of the night and showed a marked improvement. The mask pushes air into the lungs under pressure. This makes it very difficult to talk and is very uncomfortable for some. Sleep Apnia can cause many problems including headaches, memory and cardiovascular problems. Because dad has serious OSA he is not able to use a lot of the options.

All sorts of information is available on sleep apnia at http://www.sleepapnea.org/index.html 

The machine dad received came just before Christmas and actually is very quiet. But when his mask is on we like to tease him - Darth Vader turns out to be a little over weight and balding. They only brought one mask and it was too small. So the mask is working and dad is using it, but his nose has a raw spot on it. After the holidays they are bringing him another type of mask with multiple sizes for him to try.

Dad says his headaches are way better and he can tell the difference.