Ron's Sleep Apnea

Since Nicole asked, let me tell you about Ron's sleep apnea history.

About 12 or 13 years ago, Ron was diagnosed with sleep apnea. He went in for the sleep study and he was a pretty severe case. When you do those studies, they hook you up to the machine and Ron decided there was just no way he could sleep with that thing for the rest of his life.

We checked into our options and he choose surgery. Went and saw a ENT doc who explained the proceedure and told him it would be a 10 out of a 10 pain wise and just pure torture for at least 10 days. They weren't joking! Ron still has nightmares about that surgery and recovery. What they do is they go in and remove the little thingy that is hanging at the back of your throat and typically also remove your adnoids and tonsils. Ron was in the hospital for over night and then came home but it was awful. He hurt to even talk much less eat anything. He survived on Ensure and smoothies for about 2 weeks and dropped 15 lbs. But, when he finally started feeling better, it had totally solved the problem. He didn't snore anymore and he slept so good.

Well, that all lasted for about 10 years. Actually, I would say more like 7-8 years was when I started noticing him snoring again. At about 10 years he started looking really tired again but with his work schedule, I just kind of chalked it up to that. It wasn't until just a few weeks ago that I noticed he breathing. Keep in mind, until this last spring, we hardly slept in the same bed together due to his working nights, so this could have been going on for a lot longer.

I am so thankful I made him promise to talk to the doctor about it! The doc got him the referral the same day and the sleep study group had an opening that night, so in he went, grumbling all the way. He was not happy about this, let me tell you. The miracle came at about 1am when they put the mask on him. He slept like a baby! Came home and I was expecting him to have not gotten any sleep but he said he slept the best he has in years. He could hardly wait to get that machine delivered to the house.

They have come a long way with the machines too. Both of our fathers had them and they were big and loud. Ron's machine is about the size of a magazine and about 3 inches tall. It's so quiet our fans make more noise. It comes with a case for when you are on vacations, so easy to travel with. He does wear this funky mask over his nose that blows the air into him and if he opens his mouth it sounds like a wind tunnel. Kind of funny. Makes it hard to kiss each other goodnight, but we are figuring that out too. I don't care. Just make sure he is breathing!

Ron really hasn't had any adjustment. He was used to sleeping with a mask on when he worked nights, so putting this on too wasn't anything for him. I also don't think he cares because he sleeps so much better and deeply. Ron is now setting his alarm about 10 minutes earlier in the mornings because it takes him a little longer to wake us since he is in such a deep sleep. He is slowly loosing the dark circles under his eyes and just feels so much better.


If you or your loved one has a bad snoring problem and wake up not feeling rested, I would highly encourage you to get this checked out with your doctor. The machine isn't bad and you will feel so much better in the long run!