Inspire Therapy Helps Frankfort Man Finally Go Gently into the Nights

Laura Simpson remembers getting knocked out of bed as her husband Dave bolted upright during sleep one night. 

He had stopped breathing, she said, “and he pulled up with such force, it jolted me right off the bed.” 

That began a nearly 40-year journey to treat his sleep apnea through surgeries, weight loss and Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) therapy. 

“I used a CPAP for 35-plus years,” Dave Simpson, 72 of Frankfort, said. “It just didn’t help.” 

But as of May, Dave, and Laura, have been having the best sleep of their married lives thanks to an Inspire Therapy implant at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox. 

Sleep tests since the implant show the number of breathing interruptions of at least 10 seconds have dropped from nearly 49 per hour to seven. 

“It’s been a long journey,” Dave said, becoming emotional. “But Inspire has been life-changing.” 

The Beginning

Although sleep apnea has been studied for decades, Laura said it was difficult even to find a place to do a sleep study in the late 1980s. They had to go to a Chicago hospital, where Dave said he was told his breathing was stopping more than 200 times an hour. 

“I was in law enforcement,” he said. “And depending on the shift, I was falling asleep at my desk.” 

Some 25 million Americans go to sleep at night and don’t realize they may stop breathing 15 to 65 times an hour. Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) occurs when soft tissues in the airway collapse during sleep and block the flow of oxygen to the brain. The brain senses a lack of oxygen and wakes the body up just long enough to take a breath, then the body falls back asleep. 

Dave was fitted for a CPAP machine, but he said it wasn’t helping enough. In the following years, he had surgeries to remove adenoids and other tissue that could be blocking the airways during sleep. 

Even with all that, Dave still wasn’t a candidate for Inspire Therapy by the time he met Dr. Ankit Patel, an otolaryngologist on staff at Silver Cross, in 2021. His breathing still was stopping 66 times an hour. So, they worked on getting him ready for Inspire. 

“He lost some weight, which is a factor in OSA, and we did a procedure called Airlift, which further opens the passageway of the upper airway,” said Dr. Patel. “His was one of the worst cases I had seen since coming to Silver Cross in 2004.” 

The Only Thing that Worked

By May, Dave’s sleep numbers were sufficient to be a candidate for Inspire Therapy, which works inside the body with a patient’s natural breathing process to treat sleep apnea. 

The Inspire device system, implanted during a 90-minute surgery, delivers mild stimulation to key airway muscles, allowing the airway to open during sleep. 

When the patient is ready for bed, they push a green button, which turns the device on, and the stimulation moves their tongue forward away from their throat. Then it pauses for about a half hour to give them time to fall asleep without feeling that sensation. 

Patients don’t feel it while they’re asleep. In the morning, they turn it off until it’s time for bed, or for a nap during the day. 

“It’s the only therapy that has worked,” Dave said. “Inspire has made such a change in my life. And in Laura’s life. Sleep apnea affects your partner, too. 

“And without the CPAP, we can have pillow talk again. That’s been really nice.” 

Laura said Dave has had more energy and is finally able to sleep lying down instead of upright in a chair. 

“That’s a big deal,” she said, admitting she sometimes still listens to him sleep.

The Simpsons say Dr. Patel and Silver Cross have been a blessing, helping Dave to work through his long journey to better sleep and a better life. 

“Considering where he was, it’s great to see how well he has progressed,” Dr. Patel said. “He’ll be able to have his best life going forward because Silver Cross offered this therapy in his own backyard.” 

To learn more about surgical treatment options for sleep apnea at Silver Cross, visit silvercross.org.