Watch "The View" Rosie has OSA

Hi All-
They just announced that Rosie has OSA and will interview an MD and talk about her one week experience. Great PR for OSA! Watch Wed. morning,
11-15-06.

Barb

What a great segment! Very informative for non-pappers. Leave it to Rosie to try all the gear on while on TV. Wonder if we'll see a jump in people using xpap now.

Brenda

Missed the show wonder if there is any way to see a replay?

YIPPEEEEE!!! I guess Rosie is going to become our national spokes person.

Rosie O'Donnell appeared with her doctor, Dr. Michael Berus, who is the author of Good Night: The Sleep Doctor's 4-Week Program to Better Sleep and Better Health.
She discussed how her snoring was horribly loud and her partner finally video-taped her sleeping to prove to Rosie she stopped breathing at night. Rosie talked to her doctor and they set up a home-screening test because she didn't want to go in for the PSG.

They showed a Respironics animation of what sleep apnea looks like, they showed Rosie's machine, a Respironics M-Series CPAP with humidifier (couldn't tell what model) and her Swift mask. She actually got hooked up and turned it on so people could see what it looked like.

They showed another mask she's going to start trying tonight and I think it was the CL2. They started to say why she was going to switch masks, but got side-tracked. It looked like the Dr. was going to say it was due to mouth leaks, but that wouldn't make sense, because the CL2 wouldn't fix that, so I'm not sure what the reason was.

Rosie explained how, after just one night, she felt better! While this is an incredible boon for people out there who are avoiding getting tested and using cpap, I hope they don't give up if they don't get that "first night phenomenon" Rosie experienced. She's been using it a week now and says her energy is ever-increasing.

They discussed how snoring and weight were often (but, not always) an indication of sleep apnea and also that OSA could be present in non-snorers and people who are not overweight. The doctor said there are surgical options, but the best surgery is successful less than 50% of the time.

Rosie's doctor said she had 200 events the night of her test, with the longest apnea lasting 40 seconds.

Hopefully, there will be future segments on this... perhaps discussing the serious health issues associated with untreated OSA.

I think it's fantastic there is now such a vocal celebrity using CPAP!!!!!!

Let's hope she keeps talking about it. I'm sending her a message about this site and other issues she might find interesting (i.e. preserving CPAP internet retailing) in the hopes she will be vocal about that as well! I have no idea if she'll ever read it, but since there is a way to contact her, I figure it's worth a shot.

Wow Neversleeps, that was a perfect summation!

I was so happy to see this and was motivated to dust off my CL2 and give it another try tonight. I noticed she had on the simple cushion while I had only tried the nasal pillows. I think the MD was going to say that Rosie had leaks around the nasal pillow on her Swift. I also have that complaint especially if I try to sleep on my side.

I love the Swift b/c it's so lightweight, but in fact it does leak if I'm trying to side sleep.

Way to go Rosie for overcoming her "embarassement" and speaking out!

bsil wrote:Way to go Rosie for overcoming her "embarassement" and speaking out!

I did not watch the show and I'm not a big fan of RO (nothing against her either) ... but she does not seem to be the type of person to be embarrassed about anything.

I know I'm not embarrassed about my OSA ... I tell everyone about it ... I hope that it might trigger a light in someone's head to get themselves checked out.

- r

I set my DVR to record the show when I saw the original post. I have not seen the segment yet, but, if it's not too long, I'll see if I can capture that segment (AVI or MPEG, possibly others) and make it available to those that might be interested in a "replay".

I don't think there would be any copyright issues with regular broadcast programming, would there? hmmm....

Boomer

Great summation, neversleeps, and what a good idea to send an email to Rosie.

Maybe she'll wander onto the message board and maybe she'll flaunt a pantyhose leg around the CL2 on TV someday! ROTFL!!

Then we can ALL be embarrassed!

Vader:

If it is the FIRST time you are embarrassed to have OSA, then why the Darth avatar? Hmmm?

At any rate, I do like Rosie in general. She brings forth many issues about which she cares deeply and is certainly helping live theater to stay alive.

In addition, she is interested in many different genres of music, books, and television which exposes many more people to these viewpoints.

The OSA treatment via CPAP is her latest. I agree that she has never seemed embarrassed about much else, but many others may be. We need to see someone wearing their mask on television.

I did not like the comments on the show about killing a relationship, but there were also some about xPAP therapy rescuing a relationship.

In another posting, I expressed my opinion that using an xPAP is a good sorting device for a future mate. Anyone who would not accept this treatment would also not be anyone I would consider for any kind of relationship, and I would be thankful to find that out early.

It would be nice if Rosie were to visit the forum--yet another reason for the guest posting!! She would be able to receive a lot of support, as well as extremely useful tips and tweaks. After all, we ARE the best forum (IMHO!).

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I taped it on my computers DVR...if someone who's more computer literate could help, we could probably put it on Youtube, maybe? I've never uploaded a video before-lol. I did play around with Windows Movie Maker, but I don't think I'm going to have to time to check it before I leave to pick up my new VPAP Adapt, but it looks like its about 7 1/2 minutes & is currently 100MB in WMV format, so I could probably email it to someone when I get back.

I thought the segment was pretty good- it actually showed the equipment & Rosie did put it on and talk about some of the problems, including being afraid of going for a sleep study (she had a home study) & wearing a mask in the bedroom. So often the segments on apnea focus on men only and have more of a clinical feel- seeing someone wired up for a sleep study, with a mask on as the very first introduction sure doesn't make me want to sign up for a sleep study They also typically show outdated xPAPs & masks, which is another big turn off for most people. I liked that they'd had Rosie on xPAP for a week, so she has seen some benefits, but this is still all new & exciting to her. I do hope they continue to do follow ups to this segment- it would be neat to see how she does in a month or two.

neversleeps wrote:Rosie O'Donnell appeared with her doctor, Dr. Michael Berus, who is the author of Good Night: The Sleep Doctor's 4-Week Program to Better Sleep and Better Health..

Has anyone else picked up the implications of the book being touted in connection with this exposure of OSA?

It sorta gives the impression that OSA can be CURED in 4 weeks.

Or maybe I am not looking at this as carefully and to the level of detail as the average TV viewer would tend to do.

I could see a pretty low compliance rate coming out of people getting into CPAP, expecting to be done with it in 4 weeks.

Just something to ponder......

snork1 wrote:

neversleeps wrote:Rosie O'Donnell appeared with her doctor, Dr. Michael Berus, who is the author of Good Night: The Sleep Doctor's 4-Week Program to Better Sleep and Better Health..

Has anyone else picked up the implications of the book being touted in connection with this exposure of OSA?

It sorta gives the impression that OSA can be CURED in 4 weeks.

Or maybe I am not looking at this as carefully and to the level of detail as the average TV viewer would tend to do.

I could see a pretty low compliance rate coming out of people getting into CPAP, expecting to be done with it in 4 weeks.

Just something to ponder......

Excellent point!

However, Rosie asked the doctor about a cure, and he pretty clearly said that surgery may only work about 50% of the time--and said that weight loss may not help, either.

It may be just me, but the book's title didn't even register with me as implying a cure. It certainly could be construed to mean so, though.

Neversleeps-
I visited "The View's" website hoping to e-mail Rosie, but her e-mail must not be set up yet. You can e-mail the other hosts, but not her. How did you message her?

THe website also said they do a replay at 4pm ET.