Patient Stories
Dot Happel and Tina Pridgeon, mother and daughter, spent the last year promoting stroke awareness as part of Missouri’s state project for all hospital auxiliaries. As they worked to educate others they also sought to reach out to each other.
"We’ve been constantly bombarded with stroke awareness, warning signs and symptoms during this past year," Pridgeon says. "We both went to a state conference, and there was a physician speaking about how sleep apnea can be a contributing factor to stroke. Well, at that point my mother was very concerned about me."
Tina’s mother and husband both noticed that she often stopped breathing during her sleep, so they insisted that she see her physician and get a sleep study.
"As a person, you think, well I go to bed and I sleep fine," Tina says. "I get up; I’m fine. I don’t need a sleep study, I’m good."
But Tina’s mother was worried about their family history. In 2000, Tina’s father passed away from a stroke.
"We’re certain that he had a lot of the symptoms, like high blood pressure and sleep apnea," Tina says. "My mother was so adamant about me not being like my Dad, about the possibility of having a stroke, so I said OK."
Tina was anxious about going for a sleep study, but says the staff at Phelps County Regional Medical Center’s Sleep Center helped put her at ease.
"The staff was wonderful, and they put you so much at ease," Tina says. "You’re kind of afraid because someone’s going to watch you sleep – that’s a very invasive thing. You’re not aware of what’s going on and you don’t know what they are doing or seeing. But the staff, the room and everything there is set up to make you feel comfortable. When I left the next morning I told them ‘thank you for making such a dreaded experience such a positive one.’"
Tina went to sleep around 11:20 during the night of her sleep study. At 1:40 a technician woke her up and gave her a CPAP mask. During that short time, she stopped breathing 97 times, and her breathing became too shallow 112 times.
"That was pretty defining results for me, to hear from a physician that I am actually stopping breathing." Tina says. "An episode is 10 seconds or more, when you stop breathing. Because you’re not breathing, your heart doesn’t get any oxygen, so it stops. You go through this vicious cycle. The physician said it’s similar to driving your car 70 mph down the highway and then putting the brakes on, and repeating that, over and over."
During her sleep study and follow-up consultation, Tina learned more about sleep apnea symptoms from the physician and staff. She then turned her attention to her mother.
"I started watching my mom when she would sleep during a movie we were watching, and I told her, ‘I think you have it too!" Tina says.
Dot didn’t agree with Tina at first, but she did agree to see her primary care giver, who convinced her to have a sleep study.
"I had been excessively tired for the last 8 months," Dot says. "I would sleep 12 to 14 hours a day just to feel exhausted when I woke up. When I wake up, I’m as tired as when I lay down – that’s the bad part, you never feel rested."
Dot’s sleep study showed that her oxygen level was dropping really low, sometimes below 80 percent, which can really stress the heart. She stopped breathing once every two minutes. After two sessions, she was fitted with a CPAP mask.
"During my second session I used the CPAP mask all night," Dot says. "I had 7.5 hours of good sleep, woke up and went home at 5:15 a.m. and felt like I could whip the world. That was great."
Tina has also noticed the difference that a good night’s sleep can give.
"During all the years you’re active, you’re busy and you keep going," Tina says. I knew that I just needed to keep on going to get though the day, but I would crash and burn at night. My sleep apnea came on so gradual, I just acclimated and accounted for it – "I’m busier because of this . . ." or "I got less sleep because of this. . ." You just make excuses for it and you don’t really just how tired and exhausted you are."
Photo cutline: Tina Pridgeon, director of Auxiliary & Volunteer Services and Dot Happel, Volunteer, both improved their health through sleep medicine.
Worried about sleep apnea? Make an appointment with your primary care giver or call the PCRMC Sleep Center at (573) 458-7650 for more information.