Wake-up Call from the American Sleep Apnea Association
Celebrating Our 22nd Year Fall 2012
ASAA A . W . A . K . E . NETWORK NEWS
Kristina St . Peter-Weaver , coordinator of the four-year-old Brevard A . W . A . K . E . Group in Cocoa , FL , made such an effective pitch for the A . W . A . K . E . system at the October meeting of the Florida Sleep Technologists Association in Jupiter , FL , that four new groups were formed in the following month : two in St . Petersburg , one in Jupiter , and one in Clearwater , FL .
St . Peter-Weaver has an overwhelming personal reason for wanting to see strong followup support like that provided in A . W . A . K . E . groups available for obstructive sleep apnea patients . Her father , then 53 ( and thin ), was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea two years ago . Some heart arrhythmia was noted during his sleep study , she said .
Unfortunately he resisted PAP therapy . A year later he died in his sleep , felled by a major heart attack .
PAP therapy is difficult for some patients , but those who participate in A . W . A . K . E . groups report again and again that advice and support from others engaged in the same therapy strengthens them to persevere .
A . W . A . K . E .’ s educational character is the key , St . Peter-Weaver believes . One recent participant said to her , “ I ’ ve been on PAP therapy for four years , and I learned more tonight that in that whole time ,” she recalled .
Her group , which meets monthly , regularly draws 30 or more participants : a dozen or so regulars , another dozen or so who come occasionally , and almost always a few attending for the first time , she said
In her day job , St . Peter-Weaver , a registered polysomnographic technician , is neurodiagnostic supervisor at Parrish Health Care Sleep Disorders Center in Cocoa .
A . W . A . K . E . — Alert , Well , And Keeping Energetic
Letter from the Executive Director ................ p . 2 Sleep Apnea may cause major depression ... p . 3 Question Box ................................................ p . 4
Sleep apnea begets its own inventors
Rutans and Rick Gordon ease life with PAP therapy
On their Washington visit , Bob and Debbie Rutan promote healthy sleep .
Most people who have a device they use frequently sooner or later come up with a gimmick that makes its use easier . Sometimes the gimmick is so useful it becomes marketable . Turns out that observation applies to PAP users also . Meet Debbie and Bob Rutan , inventors and marketers of RemZzzs mask liners , and Rick Gordon , the impresario of the eZe carry-on suitcase , which enables the user to roll a PAP machine , a laptop , and up to three days ’ worth of clothes through the airport packed all in one bag .
The Rutans ’ story begins with Debbie Rutan ’ s struggle five years ago to find a PAP mask that was comfortable and didn ’ t leave her facial skin inflamed and raw after a night of use . Her severe sleep apnea required a pressure setting sufficiently high that the only way she could avoid major air leaks was to tighten the mask to the point it was beginning cut into her skin . No model she could find provided a fit that solved the problem .
Sleeplessness for both Rutans followed , as they tell their story , to the point that one night in desperation Bob cut a circular ring of material out of one of his tee shirts . He hoped that a sort of liner might provide a better seal . Reluctantly Debbie gave it a try — and slept seven hours straight .
There have been subsequent refinements and improvements , but essentially that night RemZzzs CPAP mask liners were born . These days sleep apnea education and marketing the product that emerged from Bob ’ s experiment have become a way of life for the Rutans . Their mask liners , disposable circlets of white cotton jersey , are a mass-produced product , available on line and from many durable medical equipment firms — and from the side of the Rutans ’ bus .
They visited Washington recently , part of their year-long “ Dreams with Hope ” tour of the United States in which they are traveling and living in a luxury bus converted into a rolling home and office . Bob drew their bus up outside the office building where the American Sleep Apnea Association has its
Inventors , continued on p . 2