"In My Opinion . . ."
November 4, 2000
Four years ago I was diagnosed as suffering from mild to moderate sleep apnea. The solution? Ignore it or get hooked up to a cumbersome-looking machine meant to force oxygen through the air passages, thus allowing one to breath continuously. I couldn't imagine ever being able to sleep with such a contraption attached to my face, so I did the obvious: I ignored the apnea.
Eventually I could no longer ignore my problem. Fatigue plagued me day and night. No matter how early I went to bed I could never seem to get enough sleep, and no matter how long I stayed in bed my body never felt rested. I headed back to the doctor, but this time I was sent to the hospital for one of those overnight sleep studies. The room was rather posh (for a hospital). Soothing soft white noise and gentle fragrance filled the air. I was sure I could sleep well there. Of course, my hopes fell a bit when I saw how many wires would entrap my body from head to toe. Ugh! I felt like Frankenstein's monster and probably looked like the monster's bride, but I managed to make it through the night and off to work the next day feeling no more or less as usual.
I heard nothing from Group Health, but after a few weeks I was asked by a private healthcare supplier to come by to pick up my respiratory machine. Oh, joy. I went in trying to be positive. Something had to be done to deal with my incessant fatigue, and at this point I didn't care if a Hoover was attached to my nose, I was ready.
The machine turned out to be quite unobtrusive. I still felt like Darth Vader attached to a canister vacuum cleaner, but at least it was a tiny one! Before leaving, I asked the technician if he knew anything about my prognosis since Group Health hadn't bothered to report to me. He flipped the pages and then jabbed his finger at a circled figure.
"See this number? It's rather high. This tells how many times you stop breathing and wake up at night, even though you aren't aware of it."
I looked at my number: 112. I guess I understood my fatigue.
I couldn't get home fast enough to try out the machine. I have a lot of sleep to catch up on, but I'm making a valiant try, and so far things are looking pretty good. After two nights I can honestly say that I'm sleeping like a baby and I'm ecstatic. I have great hopes that soon I'll start feeling more rested and peppy. Perhaps I'll actually be able to do things once again after 5 PM!