When Jim fell asleep during one of his cardiology appointments in May of 2022, his wife Chris, who was sitting next to him, didn’t think much of it.
“Oh, yes—he does that all the time,” she told the doctor.
“Well,” the cardiologist replied, “I’m going to refer him for a sleep study, because I think your husband has sleep apnea.”
Less than a year later, the couple would be in a very different place: Jim, a remedē recipient with a much-improved quality of life; and Chris, the wife of a central sleep apnea (CSA) patient who no longer worries about her husband falling asleep during the day—or struggling to rest at night.
Together, they both serve as remedē Patient Ambassadors‚ sharing their story and speaking with others about the CSA treatment that changed both of their lives for the better.
Today, they sat down with the remedē team to talk about their journey—to relief and to helping others.
Q: Let’s talk about your life before remedē. Can you give us a sense of how CSA affected your life day-to-day?
Chris: I can give some background on that. Jim doesn’t really remember very much of the details because he slept through a lot of that time.
After he was referred for a sleep study, he was diagnosed with sleep apnea—just general sleep apnea—and was given a BiPAP. He struggled with it every night, and it caused awful inflammation in his eyes because the pressures were so high, and they would blow particulate into his eyes.
Jim: Yes, I would wake up feeling like I had gravel in my eyes, and I was always exhausted. No matter how much I slept or napped, I was just so tired. I was very active before 2020—I was an avid gardener. I did a lot of landscaping and things like that.
Chris: Yes. You were very active, but from 2020 on, this was the scenario: He would get up in the morning, watch some news, have breakfast, possibly go to the recording studio for about an hour of voiceover work. Then he’d come back and nap from about 10 o’clock till lunchtime.
We’d have lunch, play some cards, and he’d go back to sleep. And, you know, the idea of playing cards after lunch was my attempt to get him to stay awake, because even during lunch he would fall asleep.
Then he’d go back upstairs and take another 2- or 3-hour nap. He’d get up from his nap around 5:30 and we’d watch some TV. But by 8 o’clock, he would be already asleep in his chair.
I’d wake him up around 9:30 and help him get to bed, but then he wouldn’t sleep because of the mask.
Jim also has a condition called multiple systems atrophy (MSA), which causes him to lash out in his sleep, and so we sleep in separate bedrooms.
I used to spend the whole night listening at his door to make sure he was breathing. I’d be awake almost as much as he was, wondering “Did he have his mask on? Do I need to go in and wake him up to fix the mask?”
It was exhausting. Absolutely exhausting. That’s when I started looking into other solutions, because I just knew that this was no good for us.
Q: Eventually, Jim was correctly diagnosed with CSA and received remedē. How has life been since then?
Chris: Now it’s wonderful. I hear him breathing regularly all night long, and I get good sleep. It’s a two-for-one deal!
He takes one nap a day, and he’s incredibly active: gardening, working on his model trains, doing tons of voiceover work for the radio station—just very active. No more falling asleep during meals, no more falling asleep in doctor offices, no more falling asleep in his chair or while we’re watching TV.
This device was truly a godsend for us. And all of his doctors, all of them, have said: Jim, whatever you’re doing, keep it up because your whole picture improved.
Jim: It’s amazing what getting the right level of oxygen during sleep can do for your body. It’s been restorative for my system; I feel that my body has come back to life in some ways and is functioning much better because I’m able to sleep properly.
Chris: It’s been wonderful. Now we actually go out. We go out and have dinner. We go out to see a jazz concert. We enjoy life again.
Q: Jim, can you tell us what the stimulation feels like?
Jim: I think the most important thing for people to know is that it’s not like your whole body gets a shock. You just feel a very slight stimulation.
For me, my typical night goes like this: I’m in bed a few minutes before my device is programmed to turn on, maybe just lying there, maybe watching TV. And all of a sudden, while I’m exhaling, I receive a little electrical pulse—I wouldn’t even call it uncomfortable, just unfamiliar at first.
But what’s happening is that the device is sending a slight stimulation to my phrenic nerve. What you feel is your diaphragm engaging, like with a hiccup or a deep breath.
I find that a lot of people I talk to seem afraid of getting shocked. But, as I like to say, you’ve just got to learn to yield to the device—to breathe in and go with the flow. It’s just a bit of an adjustment period.
It also won’t be a surprise to you, how it feels. When they “activate” your device, they do it in the physician’s office. You’ll work with the techs to figure out the right level of stimulation for you.
It may take a little time to get it right, but I always tell people: Getting remedē is a commitment to making a change in your life. You have to stick with it and have a little faith.
Now, it’s like a lullaby to me. I almost always fall asleep before it comes on. It’s reassuring.
Q: Now let’s talk about what really sets you apart as remedē Patient Ambassadors: you’re a couple! Why do you feel that it’s important to share your story as a team?
Jim: Well, we like to give back. It’s such a wonderful device, it would be a shame if people didn’t get it because they had a fear of the unknowns.
Chris: And we feel that, if we can share our story with people and help them be more comfortable with the idea of treating their CSA with remedē, it can really help them have a much better quality of life.
Jim: Yes—before I got remedē, I really felt like I was dying. I could feel myself slowly going downhill. I had no energy. I lost the zest for life. But I believe this device is improving my quality of life. It’s a wonderful thing for me, and for us.
Chris: It’s something we enjoy doing together, paying it forward. We really want to express our appreciation, that’s a lot of it. And, you know, I think we work well together.
Individual results may vary.
Refer to the important safety information and consult with a healthcare provider to determine if the remedē System is right for you.
The remedē System is a surgically implanted device.