3 Jan 2012

Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Charlene saw the Sleep Dr today and got her first ever diagnosis - Obstructive Sleep Apnea. She was sleeping when I pushed her in. The doctor was interested and started observing her. His clinical observation of Charlene's breathing and chest movements is that of obstructive sleep apnea which fits in with the simple 3-day sleep oximeter data that we had previously collected. He also witnessed one of those strange episodes (that we record as atypical fits) and said that it is not fits. Most likely, Charlene was aroused from her sleep due to a lack of oxygen from her closed airway. He said operation of tonsils and adenoids are unlikely. He proposed two solutions. The best is for Charlene to wear a mask when she is sleeping (known as the Cpap). This will ensure her airway remains open when she sleeps. However, the doctor thinks that Charlene is unlikely to tolerate it. The second best solution is to give her oxygen. This does not keep the airway open and merely helps to ensure the organs have sufficient oxygen.

This diagnosis did not come as a surprise to us. Rather, we thank God that now with the expert confirming it, we can take measures to help Charlene. We have long suspected that Charlene has sleeping disorder. However, when I told the neurologist that I want Charlene to do a sleep study, he brushed it off by saying that children with neurological issues will have problems with sleep. Thank God for opening the way. Charlene was blessed with Dr John Choo, cardiologist, who was keen to find the cause of her mildly thick heart muscle. After sending us to the geneticist and getting nothing, he suspect that it might have something to do with sleep and referred us to the Sleep Dr. We thank God for Dr John Choo (basically doctors who go the extra mile). We are going to try Charlene on the Cpap for a month to see whether she can tolerate it while we wait to do a more detailed and comprehensive sleep study in April.