It’s probably no surprise to those that know me that I have been diagnosed with Obstructive Sleep Apnea, or OSA. I’ve always snored obnoxiously and I’ve never really ever felt like I’ve gotten real sleep. There were times here or there – times when I was younger – but not these days. I attributed this to ‘getting old.’
After putting it off for years I finally talked to my doctor about my sleep, or lack there-of, and he scheduled me to have a sleep study. I had to go to a sleep center and take a “class” on using the sleep study equipment. By “class” I mean the guy told me how to turn it on, what to expect, what to watch for, and that’s about it. I was also told to expect it to take up to 2 weeks to hear from the doctor after I’ve returned the equipment. The “class” took about 5 or 10 minutes and wasn’t bad. I had the equipment and homeward bound I went.
That night I was to take the sleep study closely following the directions I was given when the equipment was given to me. I got ready for bed and strapped the home study device around my chest as I was advised, placed the cannula in my nose, and strapped the pulse oximeter to my finger and tried to go to sleep. I think I got some sleep, maybe? I had to return the device by 9 AM which was in and of itself fun after a night of not really sleeping.
After I returned the device I was expecting to have to wait a week, maybe two, as advised for the results but I was surprised to see them returned within only a couple of days. The results? Bad… very bad. 61 AHI – meaning that about once per minute I was stopping breathing while sleeping. That is bad. My blood oxygen was getting as low as ~68% if I recall the results correctly from memory. The doctor formally diagnosed me with Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea and prescribed a CPAP [or more accurately an APAP]. I was told the medical equipment company would be in touch with me within a week or two.
Later the same day I was contacted by the Durable Medical Equipment, or DME, that my doctor had sent my prescription to. This was surprising as I was expecting a week or two wait. She was just calling to schedule me and asked which location I preferred. When she looked she seemed really surprised to find an appointment available only 3 days away.
Three days later I am at the DME to pick up my new CPAP equipment. Finding the DME’s office was not super easy even though I had been in that medical building on the DME’s floor several times. Their office is sort of down a hallway around a corner from the elevators. I didn’t even know the room was there and had to be instructed on how to find it. That’s neither here nor there but it did feel a little strange.
When I walked into the office the woman behind the counter asked my name and date of birth and then told me to have a seat and that she would be with me shortly. This was a tiny room that’s all one color with no words, logos, or anything. It looks like it had been ‘unbranded’ or like it was used for something else recently but hadn’t been converted over yet. It was … strange to the point that I took a couple of pictures. Oh well.
She called me back after a few minutes and set down a ResMed AirSense 11 on the table in front of me and started to explain how it works, how to take it apart, etc. It all seemed pretty straightforward to me but it was nice to have the explanations and the option to ask questions. She showed me the common issues and pitfalls and their solutions and then once we were done with that we moved on to the fitting of a mask.
She asked some questions – how do I sleep whether it be on my back, side, or stomach, whether I move around in my sleep or not, do I easily feel claustrophobic, etc. These questions were to help her narrow down which mask I was going to start with. I ended up with the Philips Respironics DreamWear Nasal Pillow. She sized the mask and nose pad and showed me how to put it on. We then hooked up the CPAP and started it up and discussed some settings such as to ramp or not, what pressure to ramp at if it ramps, etc. This was done with the mask on and her talking to me asking questions about how comfortable I was, etc – it was a good experience overall.
In the end I thanked her for the help and advice, took the equipment, and left the office. Tonight would be the first night using the equipment.
To be continued.
