Roger and Linda Schwalm have shared many things: 22 years of marriage, four children, six grandkids, rewarding government careers, and snoring. Lots and lots of snoring.

The result of sleep apnea, the snoring interrupted their nightly rest and made them feel exhausted and irritable. Both tried CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machines but neither had good results.

Happily, the Shippensburg couple now share another thing: a sleep disorder treatment that they say has greatly improved their lives.

Called Inspire, the treatment is a mask-free solution for people who have struggled with CPAP. It consists of a small implant, powered by a remote, that allows people to control their sleep apnea without being hooked up to a hose or a machine.

Dr. Joshua Dunklebarger, a WellSpan ear, nose, and throat surgeon, implanted an Inspire device in both of the Schwalms in outpatient procedures performed at WellSpan Chambersburg Hospital.

"The Inspire implant has been a life-changing procedure for so many people in our community and has significantly decreased the need for CPAP in the appropriate patients,” Dr. Dunklebarger says. “I am honored to contribute to our patients’ health in such a positive fashion."

The device is 2-by-2-inches, and about a half-inch thick. It requires a small incision on the patient’s right side, about halfway between the breast and collarbone. It also requires a second smaller incision for an electrode, usually in the chin area.

Linda, 78, says, “I feel so much more energetic.”

Roger, 81, says, “I feel better doing things. I don’t feel repressed from a lack of sleep and that heaviness you get from being tired all the time.”

Linda’s apnea had caused her to stop breathing at night, worrying Roger who would wake his wife so that she would start breathing again. She tried a CPAP machine for eight years, but it was not successful treating her apnea.

Roger was diagnosed with apnea after his wife. He didn’t last a year on a CPAP.

“I got fed up with it and didn’t want any more to do with it,” he said. “I was using it for two or three hours a night, but it wasn’t helping my situation. I had to wear a full mask and it made me anxious because it controlled my breathing. And I would sleep on my side, which would push the mask off and then it would whistle in my ear. I finally put it in a corner and didn’t use it.”

Linda got the Inspire device first, and felt so much better. She lost weight because she had more energy to do things and felt happier because she was not tired all the time.

Roger was set up to get the Inspire implant several months after his wife, but then suffered a stroke late in 2022. Dr. Dunklebarger went ahead with the surgery as soon as it was feasible, thinking that the device would help Roger recover from the stroke better, by allowing him to get better rest. It did.

“He recovered beautifully after that,” Linda says.

Roger says he doesn’t lie awake at night now, worried about Linda stopping breathing. And of course, he sleeps better himself. Before the device, he got only four or maybe five hours of sleep a night.

“I’m up to seven, sometimes even a wonderful eight hours,” he says. “It’s given me extra energy. I have a little clearer head. I don’t get so foggy so quick.”

The couple has programmed their devices to start working when they go to bed. The device delivers pulses to the airway muscles to keep the airway open to allow regular breathing and a sound sleep. When the couple wake up, they use their remotes to turn off the device by holding it over their chest and pressing a button.

Now they have more vigor to spend time with their family, work in their yard, and devote time to their volunteer activities – Linda as a quilter for Quilts of Valor, which provides quilts for service members or veterans who have been touched by war, and Roger as a volunteer in a program that offers free tax return preparation for seniors.

“It has been life-changing,” Linda says. “I am so glad we did this.”

Tired and can’t get a good night’s rest? Find our sleep treatment experts and programs here.