Update on Roger

Many of you know that Roger has been dealing with some health issues over the past year. He always felt tired no matter how much sleep he had gotten the night before and it was taking a toll on his work and school life. He would have a hard time falling asleep and would toss and turn a lot throughout the night. A few months ago, he was able to find a doctor that suggested that he may have sleep apnea. He was scheduled for a sleep study where he had to spend the night at the sleep lab for observation. So he went to the sleep study and we prayed that this would be the answer to many of his problems. One day after waiting for the results, the technician called and told him that he needed to come in that afternoon and get a temporary machine. They told him that he does have severe obstructive sleep apnea.

Obstructive sleep apnea is a disorder where the windpipe becomes blocked during sleep. This prevents the lungs from getting enough air. People who have sleep apnea stop breathing on average for 5 to 30 seconds at a time throughout the night. The average person has these episodes 20 to 50 times a night. Roger stopped breathing 92 times per hour when he laid on his side and 126 times per hour when he lays on his back. This is a very severe case. They have him on a CPAP device which will help to keep the airway open. A CPAP device consists of a mask, tubes and a fan.

It uses air pressure to push the tongue down and keep the throat open. With the continuous air pressure, apnea episodes are reduced if not eliminated. The CPAP device also helps prevent snoring. I should have known that there was something wrong when Roger began snoring more often and louder than ever before. I do have to adjust to the sound of the CPAP machine but thankfully it is white noise and doesn't bother me like I thought it would. In fact, I wake up now and check on him because he is so quiet.

At the last doctors appointment, we got a good report. They said that the results of his second sleep study were excellent. He had gone back for the second sleep study after they got him hooked up with the machine. During the second sleep study, he actually wore the CPAP device. The results showed that he only had 15 apnea episodes throughout the night. So his doctor was very happy to see those results. I'm very proud of how well he has adjusted to sleeping with that device on. I'm not sure how I would do if I was in his position.

This also gives us the extra incentive to lose the weight that we both want to lose. When we can afford to get some workout equipment, we will get something. Not sure what yet. Until then, we are going to have to start walking more than we do now and work out in other ways. This will help him to get his body back into the shape that it was in before this disorder took its toll on him. Sleep apnea can cause some people to gain weight very easily.

Hopefully now that we have some control of this situation, maybe we'll actually have time to work on our other goals for 2008. We really want for Roger to be able to work from home and get his computer business going. He's extremely talented and knowledgeable when it comes to computers. He is able to custom build a computer, do upgrades and make repairs. He's taught me so much about computers.