Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Sleep Study Results

Rico followed up his sleep study with a doctor's visit to review the results. Our hopes of a quick and easy surgery to fix it were sidelined for now.

We were already told that he has severe sleep apnea, but we didnt' realize it was to this extent. During any single hour, Rico woke himself up 77 times!! No wonder he feels worn out in the morning! He's not getting any sleep! In order for surgery to have worked, he would have had to have numbers between 40-50.

Another concern the doctor has is that he only get 67% of the oxygen he needs which is super low. The doctor's orders: CPAP machine (it's either that or a Tracheotomy)! Because Rico's oxygen levels were so low, he's not a good candidate for being put under to have any surgery.

So, Rico is going back to do one more sleep study on Monday the 28th to try out the CPAP machine. After that, we need to go back to dieting and exercising regularly. Weight is a major factor and contributor to this disease, so if we can control the weight, we have a chance of controlling the sleep apnea. If we can reduce Rico's waking times to between 40-50 times, then he might qualify to have the surgery for his deviated septum (which should also help with his sinus issues and bloody noses).

**On a side note, I'm really impressed by how fast all these results are coming back and how quickly everything is being scheduled, especially around the holidays!

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