Sometime in 2012 I began snoring really bad. I it wasn't your normal every day, or I should really say, every night, snore but one that was bad enough that it started causing some unpleasant times between my then partner and myself.
Over the next year or so I tried all the different remedies I could afford. From sprays and foams to drops and mouth guards. Medicinal or herbal or old wives tales. Some would work for a while and give a small amount of relief and others did nothing but eat up my little bank balance. In the end himself even resorted to wearing ear plugs at nights and there were times when even these didn't work. He would get so grumpy (and rightfully so) and I would end up crawling into the cold spare bed in the night and crying myself back to sleep.
So I went off to my doctor and after some minor testing and discussions she said I could have OSA - Obstructive Sleep Apnea. She filled off a form for a referral to The Respiratory team at Wellington Hospital.
A couple of months later I received a letter back from Wellington Hospital saying that the waiting list to see the specialist was over 6 months long and that I probably wasn't bad enough to warrant a referral anyway so they were declining my request.
I was pretty disheartened, and poor himself was pretty grumpy still and I would spend my days at work really tired and fatigued (and shirty) because I wasn't getting enough sleep.
By January of 2014 himself and I had parted company. One of the reasons for our break up was my "lack" of trying to find another solution to my snoring issue.
In February last year I realised "oh crap" my drivers license had expired because my birthday had been and gone. So I went off to renew it (you do get a couple of weeks or so grace period after expiry date to get it sorted) but they told me I had to complete a full medical if I wanted to keep my heavy trade licences as it had been over ten years since I did the last medical.
So back to my GP I went who decided that my sleep apnea was BAD enough and that she would not issue me with a tick on my medical and sent off a letter to the Respiratory Clinic with a recommendation that they do make an appointment for me as she was revoking my licenses for heavy trade driving. And Yup i was pretty upset about but realised it was the only way that we could push for a referral to the specialist.
And within a few weeks a miracle happened and I received an appointment with the Specialist for a month or so into the future.
So long story short I went off to my specialist appointment who said yes I could well have OSA and he would send a referral to WellSleep who would complete an overnight sleep study.
So the time came for my sleep study and off I went. I arrived in the early evening and was taken downstairs to a hospital room all ready and waiting for me, with dinner provided and a tv to keep me out of trouble.
When I had eaten and got changed into my jammies they hooked me up to a whole lot of diodes and wires and left me to sleep the night away. There were at least 8-10 diodes glued to my head alone - but the technician promised faithfully that the glue would come out next time I washed my hair lol.
All the diodes and wires were connected to a central unit which was then plugged into a port on the wall. I felt so silly. I looked even sillier.
During the night they came in and out a few times (especially when I woke up to go to the toilet - they had to come and "unplug me lol) and in the end plugged me up to a machine to assist with my breathing to see the difference in before and after results. It was a really restless night. More so because of the hospital bed rather than being stuck to the wires.
In the morning, after brekkie, in came the verdict. The results showed that I stopped breathing at minimum once every minute in my sleep - that's at least once every 30 seconds. If you equate that to an eight hour sleep session - thats 960 times a night I stop breathing in my sleep. So the diagnosis was that I had severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea.
So now every night when I go to bed, I first put on the blue chin strap which holds my mouth closed at night - and not its not to stop me from dribbling lol. Then I put on my makeup I mean my mask, over the top and plug the mask into the hose which connects to the CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) therapy machine which forces humidified air into my nose and down my airways to keep them open so I can get a proper nights sleep.
The machine itself the hospital leases to me for free BUT I have to pay for parts. A filter replacement every month is $10 and I had to go and purchase a new mask a few weeks back because it split and that was over a hundred dollars. If the machine needs repairs I hate to think how expensive that would be.
I have to sleep attached to the machine every night and it goes everywhere with me. It could have had its own passport when I was away in the US and Canada over Christmas/New Year - though on the positive side I don't get stung for extra baggage for it as its medical equipment.
Now I may nor may not lose the use of this machine once I lose all the weight I want to get rid of. Losing the weight will be an added advantage to my throat as there will not be as much weight on my neck forcing my airways closed at night. I will have the opportunity to be retested once I get down to under 100 kgs.
But for now we assume that for the rest of my life I'm going to be Darth Vaders Wife.
With a face like this Im sure to find myself a man right? lol.
So I went off to my doctor and after some minor testing and discussions she said I could have OSA - Obstructive Sleep Apnea. She filled off a form for a referral to The Respiratory team at Wellington Hospital.
A couple of months later I received a letter back from Wellington Hospital saying that the waiting list to see the specialist was over 6 months long and that I probably wasn't bad enough to warrant a referral anyway so they were declining my request.
I was pretty disheartened, and poor himself was pretty grumpy still and I would spend my days at work really tired and fatigued (and shirty) because I wasn't getting enough sleep.
By January of 2014 himself and I had parted company. One of the reasons for our break up was my "lack" of trying to find another solution to my snoring issue.
In February last year I realised "oh crap" my drivers license had expired because my birthday had been and gone. So I went off to renew it (you do get a couple of weeks or so grace period after expiry date to get it sorted) but they told me I had to complete a full medical if I wanted to keep my heavy trade licences as it had been over ten years since I did the last medical.
So back to my GP I went who decided that my sleep apnea was BAD enough and that she would not issue me with a tick on my medical and sent off a letter to the Respiratory Clinic with a recommendation that they do make an appointment for me as she was revoking my licenses for heavy trade driving. And Yup i was pretty upset about but realised it was the only way that we could push for a referral to the specialist.
And within a few weeks a miracle happened and I received an appointment with the Specialist for a month or so into the future.
So long story short I went off to my specialist appointment who said yes I could well have OSA and he would send a referral to WellSleep who would complete an overnight sleep study.
So the time came for my sleep study and off I went. I arrived in the early evening and was taken downstairs to a hospital room all ready and waiting for me, with dinner provided and a tv to keep me out of trouble.
When I had eaten and got changed into my jammies they hooked me up to a whole lot of diodes and wires and left me to sleep the night away. There were at least 8-10 diodes glued to my head alone - but the technician promised faithfully that the glue would come out next time I washed my hair lol.
All the diodes and wires were connected to a central unit which was then plugged into a port on the wall. I felt so silly. I looked even sillier.
 |
| Don't I look hotstuff |
In the morning, after brekkie, in came the verdict. The results showed that I stopped breathing at minimum once every minute in my sleep - that's at least once every 30 seconds. If you equate that to an eight hour sleep session - thats 960 times a night I stop breathing in my sleep. So the diagnosis was that I had severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea.
So now every night when I go to bed, I first put on the blue chin strap which holds my mouth closed at night - and not its not to stop me from dribbling lol. Then I put on my makeup I mean my mask, over the top and plug the mask into the hose which connects to the CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) therapy machine which forces humidified air into my nose and down my airways to keep them open so I can get a proper nights sleep.
The machine itself the hospital leases to me for free BUT I have to pay for parts. A filter replacement every month is $10 and I had to go and purchase a new mask a few weeks back because it split and that was over a hundred dollars. If the machine needs repairs I hate to think how expensive that would be.
I have to sleep attached to the machine every night and it goes everywhere with me. It could have had its own passport when I was away in the US and Canada over Christmas/New Year - though on the positive side I don't get stung for extra baggage for it as its medical equipment.
Now I may nor may not lose the use of this machine once I lose all the weight I want to get rid of. Losing the weight will be an added advantage to my throat as there will not be as much weight on my neck forcing my airways closed at night. I will have the opportunity to be retested once I get down to under 100 kgs.
But for now we assume that for the rest of my life I'm going to be Darth Vaders Wife.
With a face like this Im sure to find myself a man right? lol.
 |
| Gawd I'm gorgeous |
No comments:
Post a Comment