Sleep apnea is a condition where you stop breathing while sleeping. There are two main types of sleep apnea, Obstructive and Central. In obstructive sleep apnea you cannot breathe because your airway is blocked. In central sleep apnea you do not try to breathe because something is wrong with your brain that controls breathing during sleep. A person is considered to have sleep apnea when they stop breathing for 6 or more times per hour.
Kyle's lab test showed he stopped breathing 101 times per hour
The following is an excerpt taken from a post found on the Web:
"My son passed away at the age of 8 on March 29, 2008. His cause of death is listed as "complications due to Chiari Malformation Type 1". Due to sleep apnea that was caused by the Chiari, my son simply, slowly stopped breathing and passed in his sleep."
This scares me.
There are many, many web site discussions over the link between Chiari and Sleep Apnea. Of course, I didn't know much about sleep apnea until my son starting showing signs of this disorder. So it quickly became my mission to research sleep apnea for Kyle. Not sure why Kyle's sleep apnea rear its ugly head months after Kyle's decompression surgery but I'm determined to find out.
If you suspect sleep apnea - get tested immediately because the process to getting a machine for sleep apnea takes time.
For Kyle, he met his primary care giver on Oct. 10th. Then he referred Kyle for a home sleep study. We had to wait a week for an appointment with the sleep clinic to pickup a home diagnostic device. Kyle did the home sleep study on Oct. 16th. We returned the device the next morning. Kyle's Head and Neck Surgeon called us with the results Oct. 18th and told us Kyle has severe sleep apnea. The Sleep Lab Clinic called us the next day to schedule on overnight sleep study at their lab for Oct. 31st. We didn't want to wait so we were referred to an outside clinic for Oct. 20th. Oct. 20th he stayed the night at a sleep lab and did the titration study. Oct. 24th our Sleep Lab Clinic calls and tells us Kyle's sleep apnea is central and obstructive so they want to do another titration study on Oct. 31st for a Bilevel CPAP Auto Servo-Ventilation. So while we are waiting for that appointment, we requested a loaner CPAP machine. The doctor doesn't think the CPAP will do much good because she believes Kyle will need the ASV, but we received a temp CPAP machine today with the pressure setting of 7 based on his results from Oct. 20th.
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