Her symptoms woke her up. She snored loudly and stopped breathing while sleeping.

The North Carolina resident spent years having procedures and trying different treatment options.

Relief finally came years later after her introduction to Inspire® therapy.

“I feel like a 60-year-old on a trampoline of joy,” Blair-Smieciuch said. “When you’re starved for sleep, you don’t realize what it does to your health, but I’m one of the lucky ones.”

Blair-Smieciuch said her symptoms first appeared when she was in her 30s.

She didn’t eat at work to avoid falling asleep and used a standing desk to help curb her exhaustion.

She used different medicines for allergies, had surgery to repair a deviated septum and tried a dental appliance. None of it helped her sleep well.

She also tried a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine.

The mask did not fit securely, though.

She tried new masks but gagged and still felt suffocated.

Blair-Smieciuch decided to see her ENT again to see what else there was. The doctor discussed Inspire therapy.

She waited months after she qualified because elective surgeries were on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic. She finally received the implant in 2020.

The wait was worth it. Her life turned around after activation.

“I don’t know how I functioned,” Blair-Smieciuch said. “I used to make myself so tired every day in the hopes I would sleep through the night. Now, I crave sleep.”

Blair-Smieciuch is now getting back to her favorite hobbies. She walks, runs and plays tennis.

She’s even building up her endurance to take on the Camino de Santiago walk in Spain one day.