I had an appointment with the ENT Doctor this morning to review the results of the sleep studies that I did. let me recap for a moment: I snore very loudly and it effects not only the way I sleep, but everyone else within a 20 yard radius. So I went to an ENT doctor to see what can be done. Before anything else, I had to do a sleep study. The first sleep study was done, but I didn't sleep enough to do the CPAP test, so I had to go again and wear the masks.
The results are in: I have a mild case of apnea, but not enough to use the CPAP masks effectively. The study shows that I spend about 52% of the time in stages I and II which is light sleep. The bottom line is that I'm not getting enough deep sleep which causes me to be tired, sluggish and forgetful. The Doc says that there is too much stuff in my throat and not enough space for air to pass due to the tonsils and pallet constricting my 'snore box'. When this happens the apnea index is about 7 times an hour which wakes me up.
So we are now down to 2 options: surgery or wearing a mouthpiece every night. The mouthpiece is designed to hold out the lower jaw (kind of like Bill Cower when he gets mad) so there is more room in the 'snore box'.
After some careful consideration keeping in mind that I don't have any pressing engagements at the moment, I decided to take my ex-employees up and actually use the medical benefits I still have until the end of March and do the surgery. (consider this my last act of passive aggression)
I'm getting my tonsils removed and my pallet scraped next Tuesday. I'll be staying one night in the hospital and then I'll be home for recovery, and then it's a liquid diet for the next 7 days.
I am really looking forward to sleeping better and I'm sure everyone else near me is as well.
The results are in: I have a mild case of apnea, but not enough to use the CPAP masks effectively. The study shows that I spend about 52% of the time in stages I and II which is light sleep. The bottom line is that I'm not getting enough deep sleep which causes me to be tired, sluggish and forgetful. The Doc says that there is too much stuff in my throat and not enough space for air to pass due to the tonsils and pallet constricting my 'snore box'. When this happens the apnea index is about 7 times an hour which wakes me up.
So we are now down to 2 options: surgery or wearing a mouthpiece every night. The mouthpiece is designed to hold out the lower jaw (kind of like Bill Cower when he gets mad) so there is more room in the 'snore box'.
After some careful consideration keeping in mind that I don't have any pressing engagements at the moment, I decided to take my ex-employees up and actually use the medical benefits I still have until the end of March and do the surgery. (consider this my last act of passive aggression)
I'm getting my tonsils removed and my pallet scraped next Tuesday. I'll be staying one night in the hospital and then I'll be home for recovery, and then it's a liquid diet for the next 7 days.
I am really looking forward to sleeping better and I'm sure everyone else near me is as well.
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