It was a long and arduous journey, for me, to find Dr. Leland. I had suffered from very extreme sleep apnea for some time, and I could not stand to use the CPAP machine that was provided to me from my ENT, after my first sleep study in early 2012; that being said, I couldn't stay awake if I didn't use it. Due to insurance changes, I was no longer able to see the original prescribing ENT, and in mid 2014, I decided that I had enough of being tired, and started seeking additional help.
I first went to my Primary Care Physician, asking for a referral. They sent me to Georgetown to see a sleep specialist. The sleep specialist said that due to how bad my sleep Apnea was (AHI of 76 and RDI of 92) there was nothing she could suggest, save Bi-PAP, but if I hated CPAP, Bi-PAP wouldn't be much better. After all but crying in her office (I'm 6 foot tall, 230 lbs... not a pretty sight), she referred me to a new ENT who was performing a relatively new procedure, and though I was outside of the range to qualify, she agreed to speak with him to see if an exception could be made.
Fast Forward 6 months of me exhaustively dealing with the new ENT (fan of the Dr., not his office staff), he threw his arms up in the air, and told me that I was unlikely to qualify. And again, I was referred to another Dr., an oral surgeon to perform MMA surgery (basically breaking the jaw, moving it forward, adding a dead person's bone in between the gaps left, and moving everything forward to allow me to breathe at night). The ENT claimed he was the best at what he did, and had even done the same surgery for his own daughter. Finally, I felt like I had gotten the referral I was looking for.
Yay! The referral could not see me for 6 months. I couldn't wait any longer, and honestly, I hadn't gotten the best luck with anyone I had been referred to, so on a whim, I called another Dr. from the same office, and in a few short days, was sitting across the table from Dr. Leland.
From the first visit, he gave me hope. Something I had not had in years. He stated that the surgery was considered successful if he was able to reduce the AHI and RHI by 50%, but that he wouldn't be pleased if the two numbers, both, didn't reduce to below 20. This is what I had been needing to hear. The process was not quick, as there were hoops to jump through with the insurance, but he, and his staff, kept me well informed throughout it.
The big day came on Dec. 9th, 2015, nearly 4 years after my diagnosis, and at a point where I was literally sleeping every day on my lunch breaks, taking a nap after work, and still sleeping for 10 hours a night, just to function. My nerves were shot on the day of the surgery, at 5am, but when Dr. Leland came to visit me, they calmed immediately.
I honestly don't remember much of that day, or the next couple, but my wife continues to rave about how amazing Dr. Leland was when she was with me in my hospital room. After leaving the hospital, I didn't eat (drink as I as on a liquid diet) much, and at my first follow-up, like a stern father, Dr. Leland insisted that I would not feel better unless I ate. It was something I needed to hear at the time, and well, he was right. I started eating, and I started feeling better.
My recovery wasn't that great, but that had nothing to do with the Doc. I was seeing him at least once a week, sometimes more often (I was acting like a baby throughout a good portion of the recovery...did I mention I almost cried in a previous Dr's office?), and on top of how awesome Dr. Leland was, I need to take a moment and recognize his staff. Every single one of them knew me by name, welcomed when I would walk in the door, and wanted to hear anything and everything I could tell them about my experience. It felt like a 2nd family, honestly, which is great when an over sized man is acting like the biggest baby to ever walk the earth. They were great, and I probably wouldn't have been able to get through the process without them.
A few months after the surgery, I got to have another sleep study, to determine how well the surgery worked. I don't know what I was expecting, but I knew I had improved. I figured I was probably at a 15 and a 20, or something in that range, as I felt like I was greatly improved, but maybe not perfect. Either way, I was feeling confident that it would be the first sleep study that I had where they didn't wake me up at 1-2AM to shove a mask on my face to prevent me from dying in my sleep. I woke up, refreshed, and though the sleep tech couldn't really say much, he asked me why I was having the study done, in a way that made me know I had just slept perfectly through the night. The Dr. informed I had a 6 and a 6, about a week later. Needless to say, I was enthused!
I would never go anywhere for anything related to Dr. Leland's practice, nor would I allow anyone in my family to. He has a fan for life, as he saved mine, literally. read more