How Inspire Surgery for sleep apnea helped Denise get her life back.
“You make reasonable excuses for why you feel like you do, why you’re so tired,” said Denise, a lifelong MetroHealth patient who lives in Cleveland. “Life is always life-ing, so I really didn’t notice it.”
Denise McCall says she didn’t know she had a sleep disorder until there was a problem.
In the 2000s, when she was in her 40s, Denise was diagnosed with anemia. She chalked that up as the reason she always woke up tired, despite getting what she thought was a good night’s sleep.
The turning point came in 2010 when Denise started having heart palpitations. After months of blood and stress tests, a cardiologist told her he suspected sleep apnea, a condition when breathing stops or becomes shallow during sleep.
A sleep study at the MetroHealth Center for Sleep Medicine revealed that Denise stopped breathing 70 times per hour while sleeping. She was diagnosed with severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Untreated OSA can lead to high blood pressure, stroke, heart failure, diabetes, depression and more.
The sleep study was the first of three Denise had over the next 10 years. In that time, she tried several sleep therapies – Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), Bilateral Positive Airway Pressure (BiPAP) and Adaptive Servo-Ventilation (ASV) machines.
After showing promise for a few months, each became more burdensome and less effective. Denise found the masks uncomfortable. She would wake up hot in the middle of the night, feeling like she was suffocating.
Denise gave up on the masks and machines.
Several years had passed when, one day in late 2021, Denise was scrolling through Facebook and saw an ad for the Inspire therapy. It’s an implantable device that uses groundbreaking technology to provide relief for people with OSA without the use of a CPAP mask.
A handheld remote allows the patient to turn the device on before going to sleep, and the system works to monitor breathing and stimulate nerves in the tongue that open the airway.
The ad immediately caught Denise’s interest.
“It was the first time I had ever heard of Inspire,” she said. “To be able to sleep and not have the trouble with the mask or hose sounded absolutely wonderful. I had to know more, so I requested information from the ad.”
Denise discovered that MetroHealth’s Center for Sleep Medicine was certified in providing Inspire therapy, which it began offering in 2018. Since then, about 300 patients have had the procedure, with 94% experiencing improvement or resolution of their OSA.
The results of another sleep study and other tests confirmed Denise would be a good fit for Inspire. In March 2022, an otolaryngology (Ear, Nose and Throat) doctor implanted a monitoring device near Denise’s collarbone and a nerve stimulator under her chin.
Six weeks later, Denise met John Carter, MD, a neurosomnologist and Director of the MetroHealth Center for Sleep Medicine. She told him about waking up frequently and feeling exhausted during the day as a result of her sleep apnea.
Dr. Carter activated the device in the office and Denise went home and started using Inspire that night. The following morning, she noticed an almost immediate change in the quality of her sleep.
Over the next several months, Denise used Inspire every night, increasing the level of voltage gradually to get her body acclimated to the therapy. A couple follow-up appointments with Dr. Carter and the results of another sleep study helped with the fine-tuning of her remote settings.
“MetroHealth is one of the most experienced Inspire providers in North America,” said Dr. Carter. He added that Denise is the perfect example of the importance of providing patients with multiple treatment options for sleep apnea.
Today, Denise’s sleep apnea episodes are now down to five when she sleeps on her side. She no longer snores and can sleep all night without any interruptions.
Denise turned 65 in 2024, throwing herself a birthday party that included lots of dancing – the Chicago 2-step and line dancing – with family and friends. She has plenty of energy for the things she loves, such as traveling and spending time with her grandchildren every weekend.
MetroHealth Center for Sleep Medicine
MetroHealth’s Sleep Medicine team consists of dedicated nurses, advanced nurse practitioners and board-certified physicians who are focused on ensuring that you get a good night’s rest.
- If you suspect you have sleep apnea, visit your primary care provider for a referral to schedule a sleep study. MetroHealth’s established team of sleep experts are available for appointments. Call 216-778-5864 or register online.
- If you have tried using a CPAP without success and are interested in Inspire Surgery, call: 216-778-4391.
