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If you have a spouse who snores, you know it can be disruptive. Aside from the annoyance, it's usually harmless but it can be a sign of a deeper problem like sleep apnea.
Steve Phelps found himself battling fatigue in the afternoon.
"I didn't fall asleep," he says. "But it felt like I could fall asleep real easily."
His after-work golf lesson was out of the question. Sleep apnea made him too tired during the day to do much of anything.
When Steve slept, his throat relaxed and blocked the flow of air to his lungs.
"I didn't know it because I was sleeping," Steve says.
But he felt the effects when he was awake.
His doctor suggested a CPAP machine to keep air flowing at night.
Steve says, "I tried every different nozzle, mask and tubing to see if I could make it work. I just couldn't tolerate it."
Then he had surgery to remove the soft tissue in the back of his throat but that didn't help either.
Frustrated, he went to Mayo Clinic where Dr. Karel De Leeuw performed another surgery, "a bimaxillary advancement to take the upper and lower jaw and move them forward," the doctor says.
First Dr. De Leeuw separated Steve's jaws. Then, he extended the jaws forward. The new jaw positions allow more space for air to flow and more space to breathe.
Steve is back to get the sleep he needs.
"I'm not tired in the afternoon," he says.
The surgery is most effective for people like Steve whose sleep apnea is not controlled by other methods.
For more information, visit the Mayo Medical Edge Web site
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