Abby Fox (Intro): Welcome to the Still Caring Podcast, presented by Stillwater Medical.

Joe Akin (Intro): Here, community is at the heart of healthcare.

Katon Lunsford (Intro): Through honest conversations and shared experiences

Abby Fox (Intro): we explore what it means to care for our health—

Joe Akin (Intro): and each other.

Katon Lunsford (Intro): Because better health takes a village and you're part of ours.

Abby Fox (Host): Hello, and welcome to Still Caring. I am Abby Fox, the PR and marketing manager at Stillwater Medical Center. And I am joined by Shyla Eggers, a familiar face for many of you. Shyla, tell us a little bit about yourself and when Stillwater became home for you.

Shyla Eggers: Well, I've been around a while. As you know, I started toward the end of 1999 when the biggest concern at that point was Y2K, and would everything shut down. Wow, have things changed since then. So, I started my role and spent nearly twenty-five years as a public relations and marketing director. And then, I am so grateful, Abby, for you for coming in and joining our team so I could step back and take care of not only being a grandma to two, now almost three grandsons, but also to take care of some health things that I've wanted to take care of for quite some time. So, it's been a real pleasure to get to continue to work here with such a great team.

Host: Yes. Well, and it's been such a pleasure to learn from you, Shyla, because you've been here for so long. I was brand new to healthcare, and so thank you for all that you've done to make this a smooth transition for both us.

Yeah. Well, we're here today to talk about your personal life and not just your life at work. Tell us a little bit more about your sleep apnea journey

Shyla Eggers: It actually began well over ten years ago. You know, a lot of couples have that same argument where, "You're snoring," "Well, you're snoring." Well, both of us were like, "We probably should check this out." So, we had sleep studies done back then. And of course, both of us came back with sleep apnea. I tried to use a sleep machine for probably a very short amount of time. And at that time, it was pretty mild. And so, after talking to my doctor and a couple of other people, they're like, "Well, if you just don't sleep on your back," because they were talking about how your muscles in your neck area and your palate start to break down over time.

Well, I was still relatively young. I was still in my mid-40s at that point in time. I wasn't ready to commit, and so I just kind of worked through it. And then, over the last few years, I just noticed that I just was tired all the time. It was a struggle. My mental clarity seemed like it was suffering a little bit. I just couldn't get over the feeling of being tired all the time. So, I made the commitment after I had traveled with my daughter, and she said, "Mom, you're not breathing in the night. You stop breathing, and it's very scary." So, I'm like, "You know what? It's time." Like I said, I have a reason to want to make sure I'm around for a very long time, and I knew the seriousness of sleep apnea.

So, even before I went in to have my testing done this go-around, I had started marketing Stillwater Medical's new, at the time, procedure called Inspire. And I can tell you the minute that the team at Inspire walked in my office and started telling me about this technology, I was intrigued, I was hopeful, and I was just thinking this might be the answer for me.

So, long story short, this last year, within the last year, I had another sleep study done. And of course, my sleep apnea had gotten worse. And I can tell you that the sleep studies, they do them at home now. I mean, it can be either way depending on who you are, but it's like wearing an Apple Watch to sleep.

Host: That's amazing. That is so easy. I mean, compared to like coming up to the hospital and doing it there, which we still do that too, right?

Shyla Eggers: We still have to do that in some instances. So, I got the sleep study, I got the results. I mulled it over. I said, "You know what? I have to try to go back on the sleep machine." I did that. And I gave it my best effort. But being monitored—you're monitored through a sleep apnea machine as well—and I was still having 14 episodes an hour where I would stop breathing.

Host: Is that a CPAP that you're talking about, the machine?

Shyla Eggers: Mmm-hmmm.

Host: Okay. So, it kind of goes over your face and it helps you kind of breathe. Okay

Shyla Eggers: Yes. So even with the CPAP, the forced air wasn't enough for me to get any relief. And so, I did further conversations with, Dr. Emde, our sleep medicine physician. And he recommended I see Dr. Goff and start the procedure of finding out if I would qualify for Inspire.

And so, I did that. And that process, there's a few phases, but it's fairly simple. You go in, you have a sleep endoscopy where they just put you to sleep for about 15 minutes. They run a scope down. They want to see how your tongue is falling when you fall asleep. And of course, like I said earlier, with the muscle breakdown and everything that goes on with that, your tongue is just falling back in there, and it is blocking your airway. It's called obstructive sleep apnea. You'll hear it a lot of different terms. But came right at me, and he said, "You're a great candidate. Let's get this on the books." And two months ago today, I looked at the exact date, I had my Inspire implanted. So, that started my journey.

Host: That's amazing. Ah! So, what has that been like after getting that? So, you had surgery essentially, and they placed it. And then, what does it look like in the days and weeks following that?

Shyla Eggers: There's two incisions. There's one on my neck, which is almost invisible now. Most people don't even notice. And one just in the upper chest. And so, it's like just a small little flat device under the skin, and they run some wires into your chest area and up into the back of your throat. There's a fancy name for that muscle, but it basically is the muscle that controls your tongue, your tongue movement.

So, the first four weeks was just me healing from surgery. The implant was not turned on just yet. The device, that's implanted, all of that has to heal. And then, it is activated at the four-week period or somewhere around in there. And so, at that point in time, I went back in. And it was an activation process that is done with the experts from Inspire. They come in and do that.

Host: Okay. So, is there a remote or something like that that turns it on? I know that I've seen pictures, and I'm like, "That seems weird."

Shyla Eggers: I call it my garage door opener, because that's exactly what it looks like. And so when you go in and have that appointment, they set the device to your settings, to whatever's best for you. They do a little test mode where they do the stimulation. And, you know, just to go back a little bit, what this does is it stimulates that nerve every time you breathe to make sure that your tongue stays out of the way so that you can keep that airway open.

So, when you're being activated, you do a little test, like, I think of some people have had a TENS unit, where you see how much you can tolerate, if that makes sense. A little twinge, you know? So, they set that, and then they back it off just a little bit to get you started, and you start right away that night. You put a setting in as to like how long does it take you to fall asleep. Ideally, they'd like you to like be close to asleep when it starts activating at night. But I've been awake many, many times, and it's not a big deal at all. You turn it on and you have that delay. I have a 45-minute delay. And then, it kicks in and starts doing its process.

And then, they set it for you based on how many hours you are trying to sleep every night. So, if that's six or seven or eight, they will program it accordingly. I downloaded an app on my phone. I can see how I'm doing and how my usage is, and there are a lot of resources on your phone if you have questions and just would like to be able to explain better to your friends and family what you're up to, what's going on.

And so far, I would say after about two weeks in, I did still have quite a bit of residual pain in my ear and my neck. But, you know, they have gone in there to get everything in its place. They have intricately placed where it needs to be, and that makes you sore a little bit. And I would say that even eight weeks later, I'm still just every once in a while have a little bit of ear pain. Nothing I'm complaining about. It has not kept me from doing anything. It's just been a little annoying. But it is every single day getting less and less. And I'm sleeping so good now.

Host: That was my next question, is like, how's it going? Was it like immediate or it takes a while since they're slowly turning that—

Shyla Eggers: I feel like the first time I really got up and went, "This is working," was two weeks after it was activated. But I think I mentioned that, you know, they set a range. So, every week, you go up, for several weeks, I think it's four or five weeks. And then, you're going to go back and see, the sleep physician again.

And then, there's one more part of the process after that, that I will do. And I will do an in-lab sleep study. Because at that point, they want to make sure that my ranges are good, that I'm not having any episodes, or I'm having significantly less episodes during the night. So, yes, the initial study was at home. It was like an Apple Watch. It was super easy. But I will go in and have all of the probes, and all of the processes that they would do in an in-lab. And it's just one of the little things you have to jump through to get it working the way it needs to be working and to benefit from that.

Host: Yeah. And that's just kind of an assurance that, "Hey, it's doing what we think it should be doing," and it's the right things for you.

Shyla Eggers: Yes. Yes. And I can tell you there's no doubt in my mind that that has already happened for me. It's just a lot easier to get out of bed in the morning. It's a lot easier to focus. There's just so many things. And I know, I mean, we work together every day, and you know how my journey's been, and it's been difficult, and I just can't emphasize enough that if this is something that you're suffering from, there is an option.

And I know, you know, just because I've been around for so long, that having sleep apnea and undiagnosed sleep apnea leads to many, many other health conditions, heart disease, stroke. There's a lot of things that can go wrong if you continue to go undiagnosed or untreated with sleep apnea.

Host: And sometimes we discredit how much sleep contributes to our overall health. I think that's a common thing here that, you know, rest is so important.

Shyla Eggers: Absolutely, yes, yes. And I chase two-year-olds around on the weekends, and I'm having another grandson soon, so I needed to be at my best.

Host: So, is Rick sold on this, your husband? Is he wanting do this too?

Shyla Eggers: Yeah. So far, he seems like, "Well, I'm glad this is working for you." And I keep thinking, "Maybe it's time for you to do this as well." You know, we have a couple trips coming up, so maybe after that I'll talk him into that. You know, a little at a time. But we do travel quite a bit, so carrying around literally a little, what I call a garage door opener, it's a little remote control that turns it on and off versus traveling with a CPAP machine and, you know, trying to wear that every night.

And don't get me wrong, for those people that a CPAP works, it's a game-changer, and we want them to wear it. And if it's working for them, great. If it's not working for them, I would encourage you to talk to your doctor or make an appointment with a sleep medicine physician or even just Dr. Goff and just kind of get the lowdown on what Inspire is all about and how it can help.

Host: Well, and that's what's been really great about working here is knowing that, like, you just don't have to accept certain things as like, "Oh, well, this just happens when you age." You know, there is a lot of intervention that can be done. And so, that's really hopeful to hear your story and what is possible, for sure.

Shyla Eggers: It is. And, you know, I just have to add in there that, again, I've been promoting hospital service lines and new providers and technology for many, many years. And I'm still amazed and grateful every day that our team takes the steps that they need to take to get this technology into place and the training.

And I used to know everybody when I got here. We had four 450 people. You very well know we hover around 2,000 most of the time. And so, to be able to go in and have the procedure and see and be cared for by people that I didn't know one-on-one and to get the care that I received and the recovery and the support after I went home has been just amazing.

And I just can't stress enough how good that made me feel, knowing I have been out there telling other people how great our teams are because I know they are. And now, when I get to see it firsthand and live it, it's very rewarding for me.

Host: Is there anything that surprised you throughout the process or...?

Shyla Eggers: When I really had decided that this is what I wanted to do was actually last June. Last June, we had an event to talk about Inspire, a big community event. We had a huge crowd, so I know there's a lot of people suffering that need help. And a gentleman came in, from Oklahoma City, and he gave his testimony on having the procedure and the outcome. And he was so convincing. I was so drawn to the fact that, "Wow, this has made a difference in his life." And so, that's kind of where I was really like, "I need to do this."

But one of the things that they were laughing about, made little jokes about were, "Well, you know, you need to turn it off when you get up because sometimes when it's on and you're awake, your tongue will just stick out of your mouth. And I'm like, "Well, that's weird." And like I couldn't get over that statement. So, my husband would joke around. He's like, "Am I going to get a remote?" Like, "Can I just, you know, turn it on and see you do silly things?" That's not the case at all. I get up pretty much every night without turning it off. You can pause it in the night. I get up every night pretty much and go to the restroom and go right back to sleep, and I never turn it off. it can be a little bit difficult to talk sometimes, But I thought it would be more powerful. And sometimes, I'm like, "Is this thing on?" Because you can feel it just a little bit in this area.

And I think what's surprising me is, first of all, I thought it would be a little bit painful, and it's not at all. I also thought—again, I was a little bit worried, like, what's it going to do when I wake up? You know, is it really going to do crazy things? And it doesn't. And I do think there's some sort of muscle memory involved because what I notice is when I go to sleep, "If I am still awake and it has come on, I feel it immediately." But in the morning when it's still on, I don't feel it anymore. And it just makes me think there must be some sort of muscle memory that it gets used to, and it's just a lot more comfortable and unnoticeable.

Host: Okay. Well, we are ending all of our podcast conversations with a challenge to care. So Shyla, if you had a challenge that you would give our listeners, something they can do for their personal health or for community health, what would your challenge to care be?

Shyla Eggers: I would just say, you know, number one, it is an easy process to see a primary care once a year. And we have so many conversations about how do we get people to do that. But the best source to keep your overall health in great shape is to see a primary care. Ours are so thorough and so invested in taking care of their patients. And shout out to Dr. Hill, who's been with me for a while. He has always just managed my care in such detail. And I would encourage people to do that.

I also would encourage you that if you know something isn't right, if you feel something and you just know it's not right, get it checked out. Because early detection of anything, whether it's a cancer or a sleep apnea or a colon issue, is the key to everything. But I will tell you that it starts with your primary care. And so, I challenge everybody, if you haven't seen your primary care in the last year, to make your appointment. If you don't have a primary care, find one today, because most insurances pay 100% for that once-a-year, visit to your primary care. So, that would be my challenge.

Host: And it's worth taking the time. I think sometimes it's just like, "Oh, I don't have time to do that one more thing." But you never know when that one more thing can mean that you have a lot more time left, you know, good quality health.

Shyla Eggers: Absolutely.

Host: So, anything else you wanted to share today that we haven't chatted about, Shyla?

Shyla Eggers: I do want to say that we do have another event coming up to learn more about Inspire on June 2nd. So, be following our Facebook page and our website, and we'll have some links there where you can RSVP and come to our event and just learn more firsthand from the experts.

Host: I love that. And it is very information-focused. It's just giving you kind of the facts about what this is. So if that's something you're interested in, yes, I think that would be a fabulous opportunity for our listeners. All right. Well, thanks for being with us today, Shyla. We really appreciate you.

Shyla Eggers: Thanks, Abby, for letting me tell my story. I'll tell it anywhere and everywhere I can. So, thank you so much.

Host: Absolutely. That's why we love you, Shyla. All right. See ya.

Shyla Eggers: Thank you. Bye-bye.

Host: Bye.

Shyla Eggers: Bye-bye