Have you ever gotten excited about something so simple and so normal that you laugh at yourself a little because it seems so silly, so ridiculous, even…insignificant?
That's how Erik felt the first time he got giddy over both of his nostrils working at the same time.
Imagine living with a broken airway for so long that when it's finally working the way it's meant to, you get so excited you can't fall asleep. You're actually as giddy as a child on Christmas Eve...
Erik had been suffering with his diagnosed severe sleep apnea for many years. He and his wife often faced the dreaded nightly sleep divorce - this is when one partner sleeps in another room to get away from the other's snoring. Other times she'd wear earplugs to bed. Regardless of where she slept, she worried about him and his patterns of gasping and choking during the night, he'd even stop breathing altogether.
He and his wife weren't the only members of his family who felt the brunt of his sleep disorder. His kids felt it, too. He couldn't keep up - or stay awake - long enough to enjoy them or even to feel more than just a spectator to his own life.
And the side effects didn't stop at home. They also followed him to work.
"I became the 'Red Bull guy' because I had a dangerous dependency on caffeine. It was all I could do to make it through the day."
So while Erik suffered, so did his work, his family, his productivity, and his self confidence. "It felt like it was my fault. Like there was no solution, or I wasn't trying hard enough."
Like so many other OSA (obstructive sleep apnea) patients, Erik was prescribed a forced air machine, but because his condition was so severe, he was given a BIPAP. This is very similar to a CPAP however with higher pressure.
"Anytime I'd go back to them and tell them it wasn't working, the doctor or sleep center would just increase the pressure or change the mask style … and I'd just get the same result over and over again."
And then ADVENT turned things around for Erik.
"It wasn't until I came to ADVENT that I realized no one in the traditional health care system ever looked at my nose to see if it was working. They just strapped this thing on my face and said 'best of luck.'"
This was Erik's first lesson with our primary philosophy: You have to take care of your airway first.
With his primary CT scan and Breathing Triangle evaluation, it was discovered that Erik had a deviated septum, enlarged turbinates, and as he puts it, "chronic sinusitis which I wasn't even aware of!"
After learning the true causes of Erik's snoring and severe sleep apnea, he was able to receive a comprehensive treatment plan that included a Balloon Sinuplasty and Turbinate Reduction procedure. Erik soon realized why he was struggling so much...CPAP devices are doomed to fail if your nose isn't working properly!
After his in-office procedure, Erik finally began feeling the relief he sought for years.
And it was within one week, he was able to celebrate that both of his nostrils work just as they should.
"ADVENT succeeded where the traditional healthcare system totally failed me."