Longing For Sleep
At 6 years old, Matthew Mackowiak slept an average of just two hours each night. And that wasn't necessarily two hours straight. Severe sleep apnea kept him from getting the rest he so badly needed and left him exhausted each day. He was too tired to learn, and too tired to play. He struggled simply walking from the house to the car.
"He required 100 percent time and attention all the time, day and night," says his mom Sarah. "Matthew has had respiratory issues since birth, but at age 3 it got to be really bad." It didn't get better until this past year, when Sarah and Matthew found the Sleep Disorders Center at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Sarah found it hard to believe that a "sleep team" focused specifically on sleep problems actually existed.
Specialists from different departments worked together to diagnose and treat Matthew's conditions. Sarah praised the team approach. "As a parent, you want to do the least invasive thing with the most success. And they wanted to do that, too," she says. "They were looking at every aspect of Matthew's life, not just the medical side."
Sarah wipes away tears as she talks about the results. "He's a different child now. He wakes up in a good mood. He's so motivated and so active. His whole personality has changed," she says. With Matthew now sleeping close to eight hours every night, she, too, is getting much-needed rest for herself.
Finding Matthew more enthusiastic and less anxious these days, Sarah says lovingly, "He's the child I always knew he could be."
More Online
