We saw the sleep doctor today. The statistics of Charlene's sleep is not too well; rather high level of obstructive apnea and also some central apnea. The nice salesman saw the stats and gave me his few cents worth. The high OA might be due to Charlene still using her mouth to breathe rather than her nose and once her mouth is open, the pressure "escape", causing the cpap machine to be ineffective. The solution to this is to change her nose mask to a full face mask. The doctor think so too and orders for a sleep oximetry test before taking any action. However, the danger of the full mask is that Charlene can choke to death on her vomitus or drool as the mask covers her mouth and doesn't allow the vomitus or drool to trickle out. The moment the doctor suggested a full face mask, Charlene immediately choked on her saliva while sitting in her pram. I don't think a full face mask is an option for Charlene due to her inconsistent swallowing and excessive pooling of saliva in her mouth.
Other possible reasons for the bad OA score could be due to the pressure not being sufficient. Action can only be taken after the doctor has determined that it is the case. Last possible reason is central apnea - meaning her inability to sleep well is due to her brain.
While doing the sleep oximetry test at home, there were times that the oxygen in her blood can drop to below 90 but it is still above 85. Got to wait for the doctor's analysis.
Please pray that Charlene will learn to close her mouth and use her nose to breathe when she sleep so that the cpap machine can be more effective in helping her in her sleep.
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