What's on Your Mind

[MikeW]

Sleep apnea occurs when the airway is blocked and one is suffocating. The brain tells the body, "Hey, I'm suffocating!" and wakes it up. I have an underdeveloped jaw which completely shuts off my airway when I lie down. This is not the usual case of being overweight. I am actually very skinny. It's just my jaw and tongue completely close up my throat. My sleep studies revealed that I am waking up every TWO minutes; that is 240 times during an 8 hour period of "sleep". So basically I don't sleep at all. I am unable to work or do very mundane things because of my condition. I've had a couple of car accidents because I'm so sleepy all the time. Luckily, my doctor did not take away my license, but I basically only drive when I have to.

I'm having surgery in a year to correct this and be normal (having surgery is a major issue and lots of things are required beforehand, like braces). The success rate for this type of surgery is over 90%. It will completely cure me.

This is something purely physiological and, while I appreciate the thought, meditation cannot help.

I had no idea, obviously, and appreciate the detailed reply. I'm very sorry to hear you're having to deal with all that. I hope the surgery corrects the problem and you're finally able to live normally.