Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Sleep Awareness Week has come and gone. Did you sleep through it?  Holly Whalen, Respiratory Therapist from Memorial Home Medical Supply, was on the WTAX Morning Newswatch to bring awareness to sleep apnea…and how it effects those with heart, blood pressure, and diabetic issues.

A sleep study is your first steps into getting help.

“It’s just one night, and then we will be with you for the rest of your life,” said Whalen.

How much of a challenge is a sleep study?

“Most people struggle with the mask just getting to sleep wearing it four hours or more,” said Whalen. “We hope that you’re going to wear it four hours at least. The doctor and I would like you to wear it six hours, six to eight hours. But four hours, will make a difference in how you feel.”

With newer CPAP machines, what all has changed?

“I’ve done this for 27 years — home care — and now we have automated modems that bounce off AT&T towers that send back data to us,” said Whalen.  “This is a great tool for us to talk to you over the phone, so that you’re not having to make a trip into our office. We can see that you’re using it. We can tell if you’re still having events. We can tell if it’s leaking too much. So, there’s all kinds of things that are very helpful for us and our patient.”

Any tips on keeping this machine clean?

“The machine itself, you want to just dust it off like decorations, but it does have a filter.  Most people, they’ll come back in a year later and say I didn’t know there was a filter. We always show them where the filter is. But then the rest of the supplies that we add need to be washed on a weekly basis. Even daily with the mask that you wear on your face, you want it to be nice and clean the next day. It’ll feel better the next night. So, you want to clean it every day.”