I spoke to a very nice lady at the sleep clinic on Monday about getting the pressure cut back on my machine, and she told me she would talk to my doctor. I also spoke to a very nice gentleman at the supplier, and he said that while he could cut back to starting pressure, I had to have a prescription from the doctor to do anything about what I’ll call the final pressure.
Another call to the sleep center yesterday, and the very nice lady was surprised that my doctor had not gotten in touch with me. She did mention that there is a self-titrating machine, which would automatically adjust to my needs. That would be wonderful, as my problem is with my diaphragm, not my lungs. It’s after 6 PM here, so I doubt I’m going to hear from the doctor today.
So, last night I decided to give it one more try. I doped myself up and actually fell asleep. The Squire said the noises I was making kept him awake. Although the mask fits me fine when I am sitting up, when I lay down gravity takes over and the soft plastic sort of collapses and the air leaks out around it. It sounds as if we’re in the middle of a blizzard. When I fell asleep, without my conscious effort to keep my mouth shut, the air whistles out one corner of my mouth or flutters out of my mouth. Or out my left ear.
And then the screaming started. When you are sound asleep and have something over your face, it probably doesn’t sound much like screaming to anybody but The Squire, but apparently he was bolt upright in a flash. Got me untangled from the hoses, turned off the machine, and talked me back down off the ceiling.
Those of you who know me personally know my saga, but my on-line friends don’t, because it’s not something I talk about a lot. Many years ago, I was jumped and beaten up, and then my attacker tried to smother me with a pillow. So far, the only accommodation I’ve needed to make to this is swimming sidestroke, not wearing Halloween masks and being sure not to get water in my face.
Until we come up against oxygen masks and CPAP machines. It goes back tomorrow morning.
thisendoftheswamp 
Leave a Reply