Unraveling the Gordian Knot of Central Sleep Apnea
David McCarty David McCarty

Unraveling the Gordian Knot of Central Sleep Apnea

…by naming the WHY, the WHAT (measurable goals), and the HOW (central apnea physiology, rather than label-based, DEVICE-oriented care), clinicians can move beyond cultural “DEVICE- DEFICIENCY” reflexes and into true patient-centered care…

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The Five Angels of the Reconstruction
David McCarty David McCarty

The Five Angels of the Reconstruction

…the story doesn’t end here, Life Fans! Out of the fog, into this fractured city, we see five unexpected guides—not physicians, not titans of sleep science, not pioneering capno-centric breathing physiologists--but thinkers and seers from other realms. They arrive like mythic allies, each carrying a distinct lens, each riding on a golden beam of light…

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The Tyranny of Labels
David McCarty David McCarty

The Tyranny of Labels

This is where I live. This is the twilight zone I work in: between the need for structure and the need to preserve mystery and curiosity…if we abandon labels entirely, we lose the ability to coordinate care, to bill for services, to gather data. But if we cling to them as the whole truth, we kill the living bird.

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CPAP INTOLERANCE:
David McCarty David McCarty

CPAP INTOLERANCE:

…He says the words we’ve heard a hundred times, in different accents, with different backstories, always with the same exhale of defeat: “I just couldn’t tolerate it.”…

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FLOW
David McCarty David McCarty

FLOW

..it was a soft film, strange and slow, a film where even the peril was calming and beautiful. It left a mark, delicate and scented, like a stain from a flower on a linen shirt…

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The Future is NOW
David McCarty David McCarty

The Future is NOW

At the time, it felt ambitious, disruptive—perhaps even romantic—especially for those of us practicing within the hidebound confines of academic medicine, where change happens like the glaciers…

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A Simple Question and The Hydra of Diagnosis
David McCarty David McCarty

A Simple Question and The Hydra of Diagnosis

It’s important to realize that this clinical failure is no individual’s fault. It is a failure of integration, a symptom of a deeper disease.

Claudio’s suffering happened due to a failure of language.

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Memorial Day: WHAT I’M STILL FIGHTING FOR
David McCarty David McCarty

Memorial Day: WHAT I’M STILL FIGHTING FOR

Now, all these years later, I’m still serving. No uniform. No salutes. Just a different kind of frontline. So..this Memorial Day, as I cast my memory back, I’m not just remembering the fallen. I’m remembering what they fell for — and what I’m still standing for. Because the fight didn’t end when I hung up my BDU’s.

It just changed theaters.

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When “Normal” isn’t NORMAL: The Trauma of Dismissal
David McCarty David McCarty

When “Normal” isn’t NORMAL: The Trauma of Dismissal

This isn’t just bad medicine. It's a category error. It's what happens when insurance criteria are mistaken for clinical truth. When numbers replace narratives. When we swap out the complex, multicolored tapestry of human sleep for a grayscale spreadsheet column labeled "AHI."

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“AHA!”
David McCarty David McCarty

“AHA!”

Most folks who have found their way into the field of “sleep” have an “AHA!” moment to share, something that changed them, made them see things differently, made them follow a new course. Everybody’s moment is different. This is mine… 

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Complexity Invites Collaboration
David McCarty David McCarty

Complexity Invites Collaboration

When a project like this moves forward, you have a thousand little choices that you make, so it helps to listen carefully to what the Universe is trying to tell you. Some messages are faint, some are hard to miss. The message I’ve been getting has been so loud, it’s almost deafening.

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