After a long day of travel we arrived in Curacao after sunset, so seeing the sites will have to wait until later. We checked in to hotel and then set off in search of dinner with our hosts from the Sleep Apnea Association of Curacao.
It was great to put a face and a voice with the names of people I have communicated with frequently the past few months. Our kindred spirits, doing the work of raising awareness about sleep apnea in a community that has challenges to understand the scope of the problem.
That is where I come in. One of my assignments is to help the healthcare community including health insurers to better understand why it is important to diagnose and successfully treat OSA.
Dinner was outdoors at a lovely seaside restaurant.The conversation ranged from strategies for organizing the meetings on Friday, to helping us better understand the system of healthcare on the island, to hearing stories about the work their association was doing.
Our friends are placing great store in my ability to move the needle on diagnosis and treatment of OSA here. I will not disappoint them.
Onto the meeting with Dr. Rach, the ENT.
October 14, 2011
October 13, 2011
To sleep, perchance to dream, to breath
"To sleep, perchance to dream- ay, there's the rub."Hamlet (III, i, 65-68)
A number of years ago, too many to remember exactly, I received an email from an apnea patient on the island of Curacao who was interested in starting a patient organization similar to the American Sleep Apnea Association.
I am always happy to help and sent copies of educational information we had and the old video... as much as we could fit into a large box, twice, because the first box did not make it.
Over the years there were friendly exchanges of email that always closed with the promise of my visiting the island.
About four months ago I got an email inviting me to visit and asking me to make to two presentations - one to healthcare professionals and one to the general public. To the left is the poster announcing the meeting dates and location.
The decision was made to include a second speaker, an ENT surgeon for the purpose of CME credits.
For the past couple of months I have worked on my presentations... tinkering with themes and images. One concept that I feel very strongly about presenting is the importance of sleep as contributing to a healthy life. It has become clear to me that it is very nearly impossible to persuade someone about the seriousness of untreated sleep apnea until they understand that without healthy sleep, they can't have a healthy life.
We leave today and I will report as I can from the Neatherland Antilles.
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