Thursday, September 13, 2007

C-Pap Machine

Upon release from the hospital, my hospital doc ordered a c-pap machine for me. This machine helps you breathe if you have sleep apnea, although it's a pain in the ass. (Maybe I'm putting it on at the wrong end). We picked it up yesterday, although they were out of "pillows" to use it in my nose. The pillows are coming.

Apparantly , the 1st night at the hospital, my breathing had stopped and the doc was afraid that without the machine, I might stop breathing and die in my sleep. That 1st night I was all doped up on opiates, which can affect your breathing, while the other nights, I had no problems. I will try to use it when the pillows come - I didn't want the mask, which can cover your face.

This is a $1200 item that I didn't especially want, which was paid for by my insurance and medicare. Imagine if I had wanted it. How many of you think the insurance would have paid for it??

I'm feeling better every day. My hospital bed is very comfortable, but my goal is to get into my old bed by the 1st of October. I'm looking forward to my reunion in October and in November, we're going to rent a house by the beach for a week just to get away from all the crap around here - no docs, lab tests, etc.

I want to thank each of you for all your kind thoughts and prayers, whether on my blog or Arlene's blog. I've had a chance to go thru and read them all and the idea behind each of them made me feel kind of "mushy". Thank you

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Glad you are feeling better. I don't know much about the c-pap machine, but a lot of people have them. Maybe you will sleep better with it, and feel more rested in the mornings, but I am sure it will take some getting used to. Hope you are back in your bed soon :)

Moby Dick said...

I know some guy that sleeps with the mask on and he swears by it. This guy is about 40. I would think it has to make romance a bit uncomfortable for spontaneous situations.

Anyhow, keep on trucking. It is better to sleep with some kind of oxygen pillow than to wake up unbreathing. Now that's something that insurance won't take care of. You have to roll with the punches (or pillows). When you get stronger, you can sell the pillows on e-bay.

Matt said...

Hey spidey - romance would be less uncomfortable with this than with a catheter

Suzy said...

Good luck with your CPAP machine. Glad you have the catheter out and that the bladder tumour was all removed.

A house by the beach for a week sounds wonderful and just what you need.
Thanks for visiting my blog xx

Cory said...

Yeah, it's crazy how insurance will pay if it's something you don't want at all. Glad to hear the bed is comfortable. That's always a good thing.

Good luck with your goal!