"Carl's Lounge" (Off-Topic Discussion, Traditional Knife "Tales & Vignettes")

Hey Brett, thanks for sharing. Hadn't heard of this one. That's got to be a tough one. How's your girl doing if I may ask?
 
Hey Tom, thank you for watching them. She's doing great. She's to young to know fully the extent of what she has but she is aware.

She's a mini me: Strong willed, assertive, a dare devil, serious to a T. She laughs and plays but understands it is to the ER if she gets hurt. Laura and I are not fully ready to infuse. We could do it if needed, but better to be safe.

We played doctor a lot as close to reality as we could to get her used to it. It worked, but the ER visits are hard to practice.
 
This is me, after discovering a small dent in our brand new car this morning. :mad:


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I'm getting ready to undergo bariatric, hopefully sometime next month. Lots of mental preparation, food preparation, etc. Last weight management class is today, followup with the pulmonary nurse practitioner (can't fool those cpap machines, I hate the darn things but it's nice to have a good restful night's sleep). I still need to get everything squared away with work. Great insurance, going to call the insurance company for one last verification.

Friends and family want to go out to dinner to celebrate. I apologize but there missing the point.

My peanut from Carl is my worry stone, I foresee all that nice amber bone being reduced to the liners after all this worry...
 
silenthunterstudios said:
I'm getting ready to undergo bariatric, hopefully sometime next month. Lots of mental preparation, food preparation, etc. Last weight management class is today, followup with the pulmonary nurse practitioner (can't fool those cpap machines, I hate the darn things but it's nice to have a good restful night's sleep). I still need to get everything squared away with work. Great insurance, going to call the insurance company for one last verification.

Friends and family want to go out to dinner to celebrate. I apologize but there missing the point.

My peanut from Carl is my worry stone, I foresee all that nice amber bone being reduced to the liners after all this worry...
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Good luck. I'm sure you'll be worrying, but it sounds like you have the right attitude to get the best outcome. :thumbup:
 
silenthunterstudios said:
I'm getting ready to undergo bariatric, hopefully sometime next month. Lots of mental preparation, food preparation, etc. Last weight management class is today, followup with the pulmonary nurse practitioner (can't fool those cpap machines, I hate the darn things but it's nice to have a good restful night's sleep). I still need to get everything squared away with work. Great insurance, going to call the insurance company for one last verification.

Friends and family want to go out to dinner to celebrate. I apologize but there missing the point.

My peanut from Carl is my worry stone, I foresee all that nice amber bone being reduced to the liners after all this worry...
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hopefully everything goes smoothly! i work in a pulmonary clinic thats also serves sleep disorders too. it is definitely important to get a good nights sleep. best to be able to do it with out a cpap machine, even those nasal pillows can be uncomfortable. weve certainly come along way since the old vader/bane level cpap full face masks. even though that still the norm for bipap folks.
 
I never knew that I wasn't sleeping well until my wife made me go take a sleep test several years ago. Turns out I stopped breathing about 64 times per hour, and I needed 18 cm of pressure! I couldn't believe how much better I felt after my first night on the CPAP.


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I used a CPAP for a while. Someone said if my pressure had been any higher I'd have needed a BIPAP. I felt about 12 feet tall the first time I woke up from the CPAP, and I sure didn't miss those suffocation dreams.
 
Trout Hound said:
I never knew that I wasn't sleeping well until my wife made me go take a sleep test several years ago. Turns out I stopped breathing about 64 times per hour, and I needed 18 cm of pressure! I couldn't believe how much better I felt after my first night on the CPAP.


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thats some AHI! hope you made some changes or stayed compliant :thumbup:
 
I've thought about having a sleep study done seems I'm always tired and need a nap. That could just be life at 63. :eek:
 
mrknife said:
thats some AHI! hope you made some changes or stayed compliant :thumbup:
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Oh yes, I never leave consciousness without it. (Except when I fall asleep on the couch, but then my wife just yells at me to go to bed because I snore so loud.) If I ever sleep through the night without it, I feel terrible the next day, so I don't have any problem sticking with it.


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r redden said:
I've thought about having a sleep study done seems I'm always tired and need a nap. That could just be life at 63. :eek:
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I highly recommend it, and insurance/Medicare might even cover it completely. A lot of people don't realize that the reason a lot of older men snore is because our necks continue to increase in size as we grow older, even without any weight gain. If you wear larger than a 17" dress shirt, the weight of your neck tissue is enough to collapse your airway at night. This can lead to a whole bevy of serious health problems, not the least of which are heart attack and stroke. Like I said, I thought I was sleeping fine because I wasn't conscious of being awake. Really, I was waking myself up once every minute from hypoxia. A couple weeks on CPAP and I felt like a new man.


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r redden said:
I've thought about having a sleep study done seems I'm always tired and need a nap. That could just be life at 63. :eek:
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I have always been a loud snorer, even in my young adulthood when I was physically fit. Just figured it ran in the family, because my father snored loudly too.

I did get a sleep study a while back in my 50s, since my wife noticed that I would actually completely stop breathing for a while in addition to the snoring. In addition to the normal obstructive sleep apnea, I also have central sleep apnea. That's just where my brain decides not to breathe for a bit. I now sleep with a CPAP machine. In addition to stopping the snoring, it also senses when I have stopped breathing and increases pressure temporarily which triggers an inhalation. Sort of like having your own personal CPR tech watching you.

Another benefit is that there is a two stage intake filter on the machine, so you essentially have your own personal air filter. My allergy problems have improved significantly as a result.

I never sleep without it. If for some reason I do happen to fall asleep without it, when I wake up I usually have a sore throat and feel rotten.

It takes a little while to get used to it, but then it becomes natural to use it. If you need it, it will make a huge improvement in how you feel (and your health). Get the sleep study.
 
Trout Hound said:
I never knew that I wasn't sleeping well until my wife made me go take a sleep test several years ago. Turns out I stopped breathing about 64 times per hour, and I needed 18 cm of pressure! I couldn't believe how much better I felt after my first night on the CPAP.


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Funny you brought this up as I just had a consultation with a sleep doc yesterday. Laura has told me for years that I had obstructive sleep apnea but I never listened. She finally did a video of it on her phone back in January and it scared me enough to seek a doc.

How long did it take you guys to get used to wearing it? Im really hoping it works.
 
It only took me a week or two. The masks have gotten a lot better in recent years, so some of them are not bad to wear at all.


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KBA said:
Funny you brought this up as I just had a consultation with a sleep doc yesterday. Laura has told me for years that I had obstructive sleep apnea but I never listened. She finally did a video of it on her phone back in January and it scared me enough to seek a doc.

How long did it take you guys to get used to wearing it? Im really hoping it works.
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Depends on what kind of mask. If your nose is clear most of the time, then there are fairly small masks that fit over just your nose (or just under your nose). I wear a full mask that covers my mouth and nose. I am also a side-sleeper and "active" sleeper meaning I change positions during the night. There are masks for all types of sleepers.

You also have to spend some time dialing it in (adjusting the tension of the headgear straps) so that it doesn't leak, but is not so tight as to be uncomfortable. My machine has a "sleep button" kind of like the snooze alarm on a clock, that decreases the pressure to the lowest setting and then slowly builds it up to the normal setting over 20 minutes. That allows you to fall asleep easier and you still get the benefits from it once it ramps up.

I'd say you get used to it after the first week, but it can still be a little annoying, and by the end of the first month it's just part of the routine of getting ready for bed. You do need to get into a habit of proper cleaning of the equipment and replacement of supplies. Not to worry, they teach you all of that and there is an entire industry ready to sell you stuff (check cpap.com for an idea). Depending on your insurance plan, it's usually all covered if it's medically necessary.

Since you are a young married fellow, some things other than sleep may end up being a little less spontaneous, if you get my meaning. You only want the mask on for sleeping, so timing is everything.
 
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