Not long before Kendal and I got married last year we saw a television commercial about this new medical equipment called Inspire (hypoglossal nerve stimulation.) It is designed to replace the machine, tubing, and mask that are known as a CPAP used by someone with Sleep Apnea. Kendal pointed it out to me because I use a CPAP.
We started learning about it and thought it might be just the thing for me. We made an appointment with our ENT, Dr Dennis at North Oaks. Dr. Dennis is great but he told us that he does not do these implants. He recommended that we see his mentor Dr. Kevin McLaughlin, the only doctor at that time in the southeastern area of Louisiana qualified to do Inspire implants. We saw him on March 21, 2023.
Dr. Kevin McLaughlin
350 Lakeview Court
Covington, LA 70433
Phone 985.845.2677
Here is a link to a page all about his history and work. https://www.entplasticsurgeryla.com/dr-kevin-e-mclaughlin-m-d/
We made an appointment with Dr McLaughlin and from the very first I liked how informative and nice he was. He explained about the Inspire implant and also that there is a qualification process I must go through to determine if I am right for the surgery.
In someone with sleep apnea when the brain senses you can’t breathe, it wakes up just enough to stimulate your throat and open the airway. That often results in the choking, and snoring sounds so many loved ones of sleep apnea patients know. The extra brain activity also prevents the patient from fully resting at night.
Instead of using a machine outside of your body to force air into your airway through a mask and hose (the CPAP), the Inspire implant works inside your body to treat the root cause of sleep apnea. Inspire is a minimally invasive surgical alternative that uses an implanted device to monitor your breathing and keep your airway open while you sleep.
The Inspire device is surgically implanted in the chest with sensors running to the throat from the chest. While asleep, the device monitors breathing. If it senses the airway is blocked, it stimulates the airway muscles to open without awakening the brain or the patient.
Successful candidates for hypoglossal nerve stimulation, Inspire, must meet the following requirements:
The Inspire device is remote-controlled and can be turned on at bedtime. Then lay the remote control on your nightstand and enjoy a good night’s rest! It automatically turns off after a preset number of hours which normally is 8 hours. Dr. McLaughlin changed my setting to 10 hours as we generally sleep that long at night!
The patient must have moderate to severe sleep apnea, not mild sleep apnea
Even though I’ve had three previous sleep tests they were a few years ago and a current one was needed. This time it was done at home and not in the hospital sleep center. We went to an office of St Tammany Hospital on June 13th to pick up the box containing all the items to do the test at home. I did the test and returned the box on June 14th, the next day. The picture shows the things you wear for an at home test. They start with an at home test because it is easiest, but if they don’t get good results that way they will have you do one in the hospital.
Patient must be at least 22 years old. I passed that one with flying colors.
Patient must have difficulty tolerating CPAP treatment. Over the years it’s become more difficult for me to keep my equipment from making nAoises and air seeping out. It began to wake Kendal up a couple of times a night.
Patient must have a successful DISE (Drug Induced Sleep Endoscopy) test result. This test was conducted on October 4th in a surgical setting to observe how my throat moves while asleep. Most sleep apnea patients experience soft-palate movement in an anterior to posterior direction while sleeping and are candidates for Inspire. A small portion of patients (approximately 20%) experience lateral soft-palate movement and are not candidates. I passed this one also! The anesthesia was different than being put to sleep for procedures in that it slowly puts you under just like you would feel going to sleep. You are awakened the same way as you would awake from a good sleep.
After the Inspire was implanted there was a month wait until the device was activated to give the surgical areas a chance to heal. Both my doctor and the Inspire representative explained everything I could possibly want to know about the small handheld Inspire remote to turn my therapy on and off.
Now, instead of putting all my CPAP equipment on, I click the Inspire remote to turn it on and move it over the area where my implant is and when I hear a little chime it’s on for the night! There is a thirty minute wait once it is turned on before it starts to do its thing so that your body has a chance to fall asleep. I rarely fall asleep in thirty minutes so I can say that is not a problem. You feel it move you tongue once from then on you don’t really feel it.
They guided me through a “step-up process” to adjust the therapy settings to best meet my needs. I started at the lowest level of stimulation and have nine levels to go up before I receive the maximum benefit. I move up one level a week. So, while it seems that everything is working like it should I will not know how much it is really helping me for a few weeks.
The final step in the Inspire therapy process is a sleep study to verify that the Inspire therapy is meeting my “sleep better” goals. This has not happened yet. When it does I’ll update this post and let ya’ll know. Once my doctor and I determine the best Inspire therapy settings for me, (by having a sleep study) the process is complete!
I know a lot of folks who have sleep apnea and wear a CPAP. I can tell you now that I’m at the point in the Inspire process that I highly recommend it. It is not a quick go to the doctor and have surgery event. Because of that, I wrote this to help you be more informed than I was when I started the journey.
Let me know of any questions you have, especially if you choose this path to treat your sleep apnea!
- BECAUSE HE LIVES, I CAN FACE TOMORROW - 
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