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OVERCOMING SLEEP DISORDERS:
A PATIENT'S STORY
 A patient to snored loudly every night, which also affected his wife's sleep. He woke up frequently, sometimes short of breath or gasping for air. His wife worried that he sometimes stopped breathing altogether for short periods of time. She noticed that he'd fall asleep in the recliner during odd daytime hours. To complicate things, Grinaldi was a diabetic and had elevated blood pressure that was difficult to control.
All these signs are red flags to doctors, and Grinaldi's primary care physician was no exception. He sent Grinaldi to the newly expanded sleep lab at Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital for analysis.
Though initially resistant, Grinaldi checked in and spent the night in a sleep lab room at the hospital, in what resembled a comfortable hotel room. The room has monitoring equipment to help diagnose a variety of sleeping disorders. Next door, the technician analyzed data, and four hours later, diagnosed Grinaldi's condition as obstructive sleep apnea, a serious medical condition. People suffering from this condition stop breathing several times per night. This interrupts the patient's sleep patterns and causes undue strain on the heart due to oxygen starvation.
Even though Grinaldi thought he was sleeping soundly all night, sleep lab cameras, microphones and other high-tech monitoring equipment revealed a different truth: a severely irregular respiratory pattern. Each time Grinaldi stopped breathing, his oxygen levels would decrease to dangerously low levels. His heart rate would increase dramatically and his blood pressure also would increase to dangerous levels. His pattern was to awaken slightly, snort, snore, and then begin breathing again, only to repeat this abnormal pattern throughout the night, as often as once per minute.
The respiratory pattern Grinaldi was experiencing nightly was preventing him from graduating to a deeper, more restful slumber. He was missing his nightly "recharge," which rendered him progressively more exhausted. Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital Sleep Lab Manager Al Cady worked on Grinaldi's case. Cady is a bit of a crusader. He has suffered from sleep apnea himself. "It is my mission to diagnose people with sleeping disorders so they can be cured," he said. "I have been cured, and it has changed my life."
"What people don't realize," Cady said, "is that sleep apnea in particular can be fatal. If your heart is constantly struggling to keep going on reduced oxygen because you're not breathing regularly, sooner or later the heart might say 'I can't keep on beating without air.'"
Another risk of this condition is a potential weakening of the heart and a surge of high blood pressure that could lead to a stroke. Exhaustion can also lead to accidents while driving or using machinery. Data shows that a number of fatal automobile accidents occur when people fall asleep on the road.
After Grinaldi was diagnosed, the sleep lab suggested a simple device that keeps his airways open and allows him to sleep soundly every night. It is a cushioned plastic mask that fits over the patient's face and maintains continuous positive air pressure. At first, Grinaldi was against sleeping with a mask at night. That's when Cady's personal experience with sleep apnea helped him accept the new treatment. Cady has worn the mask every night for three years.
"You get so you really count on it," Cady told his patient, "just try it!" Grinaldi tried the mask and quickly became a fan. Now he's busy recruiting his friends to get tested for sleep disorders.
Cady manages Cardiopulmonary Services, Electro diagnostics and Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital's newly expanded sleep lab. "I'm proud to work for Providence because they care," he continued. "We have a state-of-the art sleep lab right here in Hood River, which allows me to assist those who need help, without leaving the Columbia Gorge."
Sleep Lab Homepage
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