Patient Stories - Kathy's Sleep Apnea Story

Recovery Room Apnea Diagnosis

CPAP in the Recovery Room

Being diagnosed with sleep apnea was, for me, a slightly scary experience. I had surgery at age 39 on September 24, 1999 and woke up in the recovery room with this mask on my face that wasn't an oxygen mask, and a machine blowing cold air at me. Having been through nursing school and doing a clinical day in both the OR and the recovery room, I knew this was not normal. They say that having a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. They are right. At least it was for me.

Now, I am not a small woman. On the contrary, I weighed almost 500 lbs. when I had surgery and I feel compelled to tell you that I did not have weight loss surgery, nor would I consider such at this time. The success rate isn't good enough for me to consider it. It's not even 50%. I did have 65 lbs. of my abdominal fat pad removed though. A tummy tuck on a grand scale.

Anyway, here I was in the recovery room, freezing to death with this *thing* blowing cold air in my face. The apnea was discovered when the breathing tube used during surgery was removed and my oxygen saturation levels dropped below "normal". The surgeon told me that I had probably been used to only having about an 80% saturation rate on average. My saturation rate dropped to almost 60% in the recovery room.

When I was finally awake enough to be moved to a room, the Respiratory Therapist hooked me up to an ambu bag with oxygen. Now, I know most of you have seen these medical shows where they wheel the patient around on the gurney and holler about somebody calling the elevator so they wouldn't have to wait.

You've also seen the ambu bags (a mask and manual-squeeze bag for resuscitation efforts) they whip out whenever a patient isn't breathing. Now imagine that happening to you while you are still groggy from the anesthetic. Intellectually, I knew I was breathing on my own, but on a subliminal level I was panicking. It was quite an experience!

Recognition Finally Sinks In

After things got settled down I was okay. Then, the alarming of the oxygen saturation monitor hooked to my finger really annoyed me. I didn't sleep well that night, but wasn't surprised. I didn't expect to sleep well. The doctor told me about the sleep apnea, but it didn't really register with me. It was something I'd heard of, but didn't know anything about.

I was placed on a BiPAP (Bi-level Positive Airway Pressure) at a pressure of 10/5. I knew what a CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) was because a friend of mine had one and had shown it to me. From that I figured out that a BiPAP was the same thing, but blew at 2 pressures instead of a constant pressure.

After the third night of sleeping well except for being rudely awakened several times by the saturation monitor, I called the nurses desk and threatened to drop kick the thing out the window if someone didn't come to turn it off. I don't really remember being disturbed again during my hospital stay, so I guess I got my point across.

Sleep Study

The doctor was unable to get me scheduled for a sleep study while I was in the hospital, so I didn't have one until late November of 1999. I was sent home from the hospital with a BiPAP set at 10/5 and an oxygen concentrator because I was also on 4 liters of oxygen at night while I slept. I was tested with the BiPAP on 10/5 and still had 59 episodes of apnea/hypopnea per hour.

After my study, I was diagnosed with severe obstructive sleep apnea and my pressure level was raised to 16/12. Quite a difference, but I didn't mind it at all. I was finally sleeping through the night and didn't wake up thinking I had to go to the bathroom all the time. It was great to finally get a good night's sleep and to wake up feeling so refreshed and well rested. It did take some time to start realizing that there was a big difference, but within a few weeks I could tell a major difference in my life.

I was no longer falling asleep with no warning while watching TV or while driving. Now that's scary. I haven't lost a significant amount of weight, but I haven't been gaining steadily either. I've managed to hold steady without dieting since starting treatment.

I had my follow-up sleep study mid October of 2000 and my pressures were raised to 17/13 and I'm still sleeping through the night. I love it and haven't had a bit of trouble adjusting to the machine and head gear. I know that I'm not the norm, but I encourage you to hang in there and keep trying. It's literally your life we're talking about here.

Final Comments

I realize now that I probably even had sleep apnea as long ago as 3rd grade. I remember a couple of times that I had problems and my sister complained about my snoring. She snores worse than I do and always has, but I can't get her to ask her doctor about having a sleep study.

If you even think you even *might* have sleep apnea, please consult your doctor. I know people who are now permanently disabled from the heart and lung damage caused by severe apnea. And don't think you have to be fat to have sleep apnea, or that sleep apnea is a "fat disease". It's not. There are just as many average sized people who also have it. Please, if you, or someone you know, may have sleep apnea, go see your doctor.

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