From zero to a thousand: how obstructive sleep apnea quickly overtook one Missouri woman’s life

Teresa Woody dealt with symptoms of untreated obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) for years until she started Inspire^® therapy. Her challenging journey began after her husband noticed she developed issues while sleeping. He often had to wake her up when she stopped breathing. A sleep study later confirmed Woody’s severe OSA.

She also developed an autoimmune disease, sarcoidosis, at this time. This caused her eyes and lungs to swell. The damage to her lungs meant she couldn’t use a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine. But she did need to do something with 64 apnea episodes each hour while sleeping.

“It went from zero to 1,000,” Teresa said.

She learned about Inspire therapy after seeing a Facebook ad and quickly made an appointment to see an Inspire-trained provider in Missouri. Teresa eventually qualified and had surgery in September 2020.

She had the device turned on. And she met with her provider over the next few months to reach her therapeutic level. Today, Teresa only has two apnea episodes per hour.

She is also back to doing the things she loves like creating stained glass art. And it is all due to better sleep and less stress about her health.

“The first time that I woke up in the morning and realized I had slept throughout the night without waking up was my ‘awe’ moment,” Teresa said. “I sat in bed and cried. Inspire has literally changed my life.”