Wednesday, August 22, 2007

A Night In The Hospital

Last night I spent the night in the hospital. No, no injury or accident. I got checked for sleep apnea, and learned that I have it. Of course, this will be no surprise to Colleen. The mask that they used covered both my nose and mouth, and I woke up to the sound of air being let out of a balloon and my cheeks puffed with air. I'm not sure Colleen is going to like that sound any better than the snoring! A technician will analyze the graph data, then a doctor, then my personal physician. In a couple of weeks I should be fitted with a mask that works better. They have ones that fit over the nose and not the mouth, and ones that fit under the nose. I hope this post doesn't put any of you to sleep. They are learning that there is a tie between sleep apnea and cardiovascular problems, as well as to overall well-being. My oxygen levels got as low as 69 during REM sleep, and they want your levels not to drop below 90 percent.

5 comments:

Mizz E said...

My brother wears a mask every night and swears by it.

My sister used hers one night and put it in the closet the next day. Later she sold it on Yahoo Auctions. She sleeps with a Breath Right strip on her nose now.

Good luck with finding what works for you.

Bob's Blog said...

Thanks MizzE,
I think I will have to try more than one mask before I get comfortable. I do use Breathe Right strips, but they do not prevent the drop in oxygen percentages.

MommaLlama said...

My dad now wears a C-Pap, and is much happier. His fits just over his nose. For the first few weeks it did give him little raw spots on the bridge of his nose, and it took a while to get a tight seal with his mustache... but after they ironed out the kinks and got the right fit, it solve a ton of his troubles. And of course my kids love to visit and play with grandpa with it on... who doesn't love Darth Grandpa!

Ambulance Driver said...

It'll take you a couple of weeks to get used to the CPAP. But once you do...


...get used to more daytime energy and say good bye to fatigue. It's like night and day.

Bob's Blog said...

mommallama,
Thanks! I'll take Darth Grandpa any day!

Ambulance Driver,
Wow! Coming from a person with your medical knowledge, that is very encouraging, and I will look forward to the results!