Snoring.......

Or should I say, sleep apnea, has been an issue in our lives since we got married.
Both of Bill's parents snore, loudly (shake the roof, you can hear them from the farthest corners of the house). And apparently, this is definitely inherited.

When Bill and I got married many years ago... Bill was (and still is a snorer). If I am happily and soundly asleep, then I don't hear it or notice it, and so... it doesn't bother me. BUT... if I am awake (wake up in the middle of the night, or he falls asleep before I do), then I HEAR him snoring and it drives me a bit crazy! I have somewhat sensitive hearing, and the littlest sound can drive me batty! It will be like what I hear goes inside my ear and gets into my head and I just cant' get the noise out of my head!!! I stay up and watch T.V. a lot, late at night, partly to help drown out the noise of snoring. Now I'm not complaining, just trying to explain the situation.

He doesn't snore all the time, and like I said, once I am asleep, I don't hear it, so it doesn't bother me a bit. If he is really tired or ill (I guess keeping him awake, therefor making him more tired), he snores much worse! He has been known to sleep on the couch, just to avoid keeping me up with the snoring that is sure to come on some of those nights. I have even been known to leave the bedroom occasionally (very seldom), if it gets really bad and I want to pull my hair out. ;-)

I had heard stories (we all have) of people hitting, kicking or shoving the other person in the middle of the night, to get them to roll over, and stop snoring (for the time being at least). Well, as a young newlywed, I thought all of that sounded quite cruel. I loved my sweetheart! In an effort to be 'kind' to my hubby but to help solve the issue, I found my own little way that would do the trick. We had probably been married for nearly 2 years when one day, my sweetheart looked at me and said, "Do you have any idea how frightening it is to wake up in the middle of the night, because you can't breathe?" Apparently, that is what happened when I would reach over and gently plug his nose... I only would hold it for a second, and he'd wake up enough to roll over.

Well, I felt pretty bad about the whole thing! Since that time I have resorted to pushing on him, and sometimes a bit harder than others I admit... to get him to roll to his left side. It isn't quite as bad then (he usually doesn't snore on his left side).

Well, finally as he is about to leave the military, he had to have a physical done. He told them honestly about all of his complaints (some of which he'd been telling them for years to no avail). Well, they have sent him to get the MRI that told him he had several ruptured disks in his back (no wonder it's hurts and he has almost constant back pain!). They have him doing all sorts of testing, and the sleep study is one of them.

Two weeks ago, he went for the initial sleep study. It was determined that he stops breathing 12-15 times an hour, and his oxygen saturation levels dropped as low as 74% at times. Now the really sad thing is, it was a good sleep night for him! He wasn't as tired as normal, and didn't snore nearly as much as usual for him. It makes you wonder how bad he is on a bad night!?!

So, tonight he is back at the sleep center again, this time they will be monitoring him, while he sleeps with the aid of a CPAP machine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_airway_pressure
Then tomorrow he will either have a home machine ordered for him or possibly even come home with one. I had heard they were noisy, Bill was even joking about him sounding like Darth Vader, but when i was there to drop him off, they started him on it to get used to it before they hooked him up to all the wires, and I could barely hear it, if at all. So, I guess it won't be so bad as I had anticipated! (I was worried about whether the noise would be more irritating and bothersome than the snoring).

Anyway, he had a broken nose from wrestling intramurals he had to participate in back at West Point many many years ago, and the Dr. noted in his records, he does have a deviated septum. So, whether the snoring is partially a family tendency, or not, that has made it all worse! His nose is actually quite crooked. We have joked about him getting surgery - he saw a friend of ours a few years back just shortly after her surgery. She looked pretty rough - two black eyes, bruised all on her nose and cheek bones... he didn't find any of that comforting at all, and said, NO way! But now, with the CPAP, he will most likely have to wear the full mask that covers both mouth and nose, rather than just a smaller type that goes over only the nose, since it would probably have a difficult time forcing air, through the deviated septum, and into his airway.

The things you learn from a small medical procedure or situation...

Please don't refer to me as Mrs. Vader when we see each other next... ;-)

Hopefully my sweetheart will be able to get some good sleep - FINALLY - and be much more well rested, and he won't fall asleep in the middle of the day, etc. (he actually considered getting tested for Narcolepsy at one time... that was before he was diagnosed with the Diabetes, and that was the biggest cause of his inability to stay awake, at that time, though I'm sure that the apnea wasn't helping!!!)