Fisher has Down syndrome and was diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) at around 12 years old. This wasn’t a surprise as she had been dealing with sleep issues for nearly a decade already, which included having her adenoids removed at five years old.

Fisher also had her tonsils removed and received a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine, but the problems remained. It wasn’t until a few years later when Fisher was able to join an Inspire® therapy clinical trial that everything changed.

“My sleep is better,” Molly said. “It’s easy for me [to use]. I feel good.”

“We have tried to explain to her that this is going to help her with all of the goals she wants to do in life, too,” her mother Shauna said.

Inspire therapy was FDA-approved for children aged 13-18 with an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) between 10-50 and for those unable to use or get consistent benefits from CPAP in March 2023, but Fisher’s mother, Shauna, was looking into alternatives years earlier.

The CPAP machine was difficult for Fisher to use and caused an allergic reaction. She was taking naps m day because of the exhaustion from a lack of quality sleep.

Shauna saw a commercial for Inspire therapy and did research, learning it wasn’t available for pediatric patients at the time.

The family moved from Texas to New Hampshire a few years later, and Shauna joined a new group on Facebook. One post caught her attention as it mentioned clinical trials for Inspire therapy and pediatric Down syndrome patients.

Fisher underwent a new sleep study to qualify for the trials, but her OSA was so severe she wasn’t accepted at first.

Another procedure eventually reduced the number of sleep apnea events Fisher was having to allow her to qualify for the clinical trials.

She received the Inspire implant a few months after Inspire was officially FDA approved for pediatric Down syndrome patients, and her parents saw improvements within two to three weeks after activation.

Fisher no longer needs naps to get through the day, has more energy and engages in conversation with family and friends more often.