"I Had been Living With A Snoring Problem Nearly My Whole Life…In fact, I can remember my mother teasing me, saying that I'd snore so loudly that the walls in our house would cave in with each breath."
"I had no idea I could breathe through my nose with my mouth shut."
Jessica had dealt with snoring and breathing issues for so long, she was clueless to what breathing through the nose was like - or that it was even possible.
Jessica isn't the only one who has dealt with obstructions in their airways. Many patients don't know what normal breathing feels like until after they have their procedures done.
"I had never seen a physician about my breathing before," Jessica recalls "Dr. Kandula told me that most people can breathe and choose to breathe through their nose. I was just shocked. I had no idea."
Jessica remembers snoring since she was as young as four years old. She became self-conscious about her snoring and was constantly teased for it, even to the point that she skipped sleepovers with her childhood friends. She wouldn't even sleep in a college dorm. "I had been teased by my parents, my six siblings, my husband. I knew something had to change."
As an adult, she tried everything to resolve her snoring. Adhesive nasal strips, sleeping sitting up, mouth guards - but nothing seemed to help.
Then when she became pregnant, her snoring got worse. And it got so bad that her husband couldn't handle it anymore.
"My husband and I had a sleep divorce. My snoring was so loud it forced him out of the bedroom and onto the living room couch."
A year later, they were still sleeping apart. "After I had my daughter, it was the best time for us to do something about it. I wanted my husband back in bed with me."
Plus, she had hope for her ability to breathe normally, a life she never knew. "If I could breathe better, I wanted to. I had no idea what that was like."
Jessica's 20 minutes in-office balloon sinuplasty corrected her lifelong snoring problem. It's been three years since her procedure, and she's breathing better than she ever thought possible.
She went from someone who spent mornings being tired, irritable, and dependent on caffeine to someone who was energized and actually enjoyed the mornings.
"Mornings are good. Life is so much better. I find that I have the energy to play with my daughter. We play on the swing set now for hours. I can actually smell my beautiful flowers."
And for Jessica, the most important benefit of all, "My husband is back in bed. So life is good."