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Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Finally......a refill!

OK, so I got the results back from my sleep study. Dr. Maria says that I have mild sleep apnea. Mild according to the reports, that is. I got a total of 4 hours of sleep - mostly light sleep that did not get to the restful, restorative REM stage at which apnea rears its ugly head. I got to that stage probably 1 1/2 hours before I was to wake up. During that 1 1/2 hour stretch of time I stopped breathing several times, at one time for a whole minute and a half! Dr. Maria said that, had I had a longer REM sleep stage, she feels that I probably would have been classified as severe apnea.

So now I am all set up with a CPAP machine. Thankfully, I do not have to wear a full face mask - I've been fitted with a less cumbersome nasal pillow. The first night, it was weird to wear something on my face. I couldn't really lay on my stomach (where I'm most comfortable without knocking it askew) even though the wonderful Dr. Maria hooked me up with some drugs. The air pressure from the machine, which is what keeps your airways open as you sleep, fills up your head and makes you feel like a balloon! As you breathe, you can hear the air moving in and out of the machine. Later that night, through my drug-and-sleep haze, I could swear I heard Talmadge utter, "Luke, I am your father......." as he crawled into bed. Oh, and I came across a support group for CPAP users on Yahoo Groups (man, they have a group for EVERYTHING!!). One of the posters signed off "Hosehead since 2002". I like that.....I'm now officially a "hosehead"! LOL!

Last night was better, I got some sleep and actually could feel a difference. I was still a bit sleepy after lunch today, though. Baby steps, time will tell!

I have to see Dr. Maria next week for some tweaking of the machine, and she wants to do another sleep study w/ the machine. Afterwards, we should be good to go for scheduling my surgery!

2 high-fives:

Talmadge said...

And next month (soon as my 'primary physician' change takes effect) I'll be taking the steps which in all probability will mean a CPAP in my future as well.

As deeply as I sleep (folks, I can sleep on a lounger atop a boat deck amidst drunks and bad karaoke singers), I shudder to think what kind of apnea I have. If yours is borderline severe, I can only imagine what MINE must be.

And no, what I said to you the other night was, "Princess Leia, you look very sexy wearing that nasal pillow. Is it real feathers or foam?"

--Talmadge "Hosehead Hubban'" Gleck

nettiemac said...

I keep wanting my dad to get tested. Maybe if I show him this, he'll stop being so stubborn and just do it.

Signed,
Yes, I Get My Stubborn-ness "Honest"