Michael, you are a creative BEAST!! Talk about fast and dirty action!!!
I think this is great--I hope a lot of SG people join and give feedback about the books. It can't do anything but help us all become better-informed about this apnea business.
I'd like to see someone write a book in SIMPLE TERMS about what all the lab #s and interpretations mean. All that stuff still baffles me, but I'd like to have a reference source available......

Keep up the good word on behalf of apnea survivors!!

McCord

That would be worK, not word!!

Mike, just a thought--I'm wondering about putting the book titles in all caps. It might make them stand out a little more, thereby creating the remote possibility that the title might stick in our sleep-starved brains!!

Yay, Jackie!! You're a Charter Member of SG's Book Club!!!

changed the titles to ALL CAPS.

I SEE that. Looks good!!

Yeah, like maybe why they chose sleep as a profession, what prompted the writing of the book, their own personal experience (?) with sleep apnea?......

So far my first and most riveting sleep apnea book is SLEEP INTERRUPTED By our own Steven Y. Park, M.D. The dedication he pours into all the information he openly shares with his readers is non stop and from the heart. One can tell he cares deeply about this subject. Once I get through this experience of OSA I will have Dr. Park to thank. I have learned so so much. Why couldn't one Doctor in the last 10 years suggested a sleep study???

Valerie--I absolutely agree with you about Dr. Park. His commitment to sleep disorder issues (of ALL kinds) and patient care is remarkable.
I also wonder why no one ever suggested a sleep study for me since (as I now know) I've had active symptoms since the early 70's...there must be thousands (or more) just like us, walking around totally unaware of why they feel so bad when "nothing is wrong". Education and outreach is the key, and this SG Book Club has the potential to be yet one more layer of easily-accessed information for the public at large, to say nothing of everyone who's learning the power of being in a supportive, knowledgeable environment while dealing with a life-threatening illness.

Thanks for you comments!

Susan McCord :-)

(8) new members already!

SG's Sleep Apnea Book Club is rockin'!!!!!

The father of sleep medicine, Dr. William C. Dement impressed me years ago. I remember his comment on the sleep apneic: He said something to the effect, "A man can appear perfectly healthy during the day and be deadly ill at night." Early on in my sleep education I noted that there were some OSA patients who were in such dire straights that they were in what could only be interpreted as an emergency situation, that they literally going to die if something was not done to treat them immediately. I ran across something Dr. Dement had written 20+ years ago commenting on that very point, that there were sleep apneics who were in an emergency status and implied, as I recall, that the seriousness of the disorder was not fully appreciated by his care givers. It seems at times that little has changed. The seriousness of the disorder is still not fully appreciated by most of society including parts of the medical community.
When I read Phantom of the Night several years ago, I thought this book has everything you could possibly need to know about SA. I was very impressed.
In my book, I wanted to tell it to the sleep apneic, but make it short and sweet, i.e., make it as straight forward and to the point as possible. Based on my own experience I knew that the sleep apneic's attention span was very short and memory not all that good. I also wanted to get their attention by stressing the dire consequences so they would take action and get treatment asap. I can't tell you how rewarding it is to hear of someone who did exactly that after reading what I had put down on paper.

Thanks for your comment, Mack. This is EXACTLY the kind of endorsement info we, as patients, need to decide the best place to put our time and $$ into educating ourselves and the long-resistant medical community, to say nothing of our families and the public at large.

Having read your description of your book, it's definitely one I will have for my personal study of apnea. I was just diagnosed in June 2009 and still fall into the brain-fog category you've so aptly described! So I'm interested in simple and straightforward at the moment. Many people on SG are far more educated than I, and they may prefer something more technical. That's what makes this Book Club so promising. None of us has the energy to plow through a bunch of books (assuming there ARE a bunch of books on apnea!!) to figure out what works for us as reading material.
So again, thank you for your contribution, both as an MD/author and for your compassionate and forward-thinking ideas about education and treatment.

Susan McCord :-)

I would like to hear your thoughts after you have had a chance to read it. It is not a literary work, but just plain talking like I am doing now. I did stray a bit on some medical topics, but I couldn't help myself, it just came out.

Mack, I doubt that anyone struggling with sleep apnea gives a red-rat's a.. about "literary"--we're all just trying to survive, as you well know! That's one of the things I personally value so much about SleepGuide, as a patient. The conversation is just that--like sitting across the kitchen table with friends and exchanging ideas and info about a mutual problem.

I WILL be buying your book! Where is it available?

Susan McCord :-)

I just finished reading through the Phantom of the night. Well really I skimmed through it. I went cross eyed for a while, but I am sure it was my sleepless daze that I get into. I was really able to connect to this book, and did learn quite a bit. I would definately recommend this book to any newbie just starting out. I am going to see if I can check any of the other books out at the library before I start my personal collection for my home library.