PORTLAND, Ore. -- It's when sleepers go from snoring to gasping.

It's called Sleep Apnea and it's threatening the health and lifestyles of million of americans, including one Portland city leader.

Portland City Commissioner Sam Adams says he hasn't had a good night's sleep in years, maybe even decades.

He has tried oxygen masks and every fix imaginable.

Today, he's hoping a painful surgery will lead to a restful life.

KGW photo

"So today I have one, two, three, four, five ... 18 meetings today."

You might find it hard to believe that a busy city leader overseeing hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of employees can barely make it out of bed.

"I have three alarms and I sleep through all of them in the morning so my staff has to start calling me," he says.

Adams is diagnosed with severe Sleep Apnea.

If he looks tired, it's because he's unable to sleep even long enough to start dreaming.

"I would stop breathing and then suddenly sort of explode trying to get my breath."

"This can occur 10, 20, 60, 80 times in one hour," explains Dr. Bryan Bell, a local expert in the emerging sleep sciences.

Bell says Adams and 20 million Americans have Apnea.

The disease is confirmed during sleep testing when loud snoring leads to frequent gasping.

The brain wakes up each time and never has a chance to rest.

"I thought this was the way everybody feels frankly."

In Adams' case, his tonsils and the soft tissue at the base of his tongue are blocking air flow at night.

The lack of oxygen over time is dangerous.

"Heart disease, pulmonary or lung disease," says Dr. Bell.

After years of trying oxygen masks and other home remedies, Adams checks himself into Portland's Legacy Emanuel hospital for surgery.

Dr. Bell will remove tonsils and cut through both sides of Adams' jaw to slide his chin forward.

He'll tighten the tissue around the base of Adams' tongue without changing the commissioner's facial profile.

"Are you ready?" asks an anestheseologist.

"I'm ready," answers Adams.

He knows there's a long, painful recovery ahead.

"Regardless of what the pain is i want to get this done."

As the commissioner heads to surgery, he says he has no doubts about what he's doing.

"I am looking forward to the prospect of having a good night's sleep. So, I'm nervous but hopeful."

The surgery takes hours and at times the operating room sounds like a lumber mill.

Dr. Bell shows us an x-ray that clearly outlines the hardware he installed in Adams' jaw to keep it in tact for healing.

"This is the plate right here and there are one, two, three, four, five screws holding the plate and there are two other positional screws."

Technically, Adams now has room to breath.

When he returns to city hall, he hopes his energy level can keep up with his always busy schedule.

A day or two after surgery, Adams reports to his doctor that he has begun dreaming for the first time in years.

The surgery he had holds a 60 percent success rate.

A more radical version of the surgery has a 90 percent succcess rate.

Adams will back for another sleep test in six months to determine how well the surgery is working.