Monday, February 28, 2011

Sleep Lab: An Inside Look
One woman’s exhausted journey into the world of sleep science.
By Sara Butler
WebMD FeatureReviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD

I’ll let you in on a little secret: I snore. I’ve always snored, but I’ve only recently been able to admit it publicly.

When I was eight years old, my concerned parents took me to a specialist, who declared my adenoids unfit and scheduled an immediate surgical removal in the hopes of resolving my snoring problem. Normally, the medical team would take the tonsils at the same time, based on the theory that one bad set of vestigial organs may lead to another. Not mine. My doctor left my tonsils intact and when I awoke bewildered from surgery, I was greeted with orange sorbet and a pair of quietly ticking time bombs in my throat.

Why is this important? Fast forward 25 years, past annual bouts of severe tonsillitis and strep throat. Here I am, sitting on an examination table with an Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist shining a light into my mouth with a thoughtful, almost reverent look on his face

Read the rest of the article here.

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