I Just HAVE To Share This !!!

[Slinky]

Don't thank me! Thank, Strawberri, and God bless her for sharing. I know I had no idea, even as a strong believer in CPAP and what untreated OSA can do, just how much healing CPAP therapy can be responsible for!

[dsm]

Slinky, thank you so much for posting that and my tears were happy and but some sad ones. It really hits close to home because my dear Mike was also literally dying in front of me and I also knew he snored and then "seemed to hold his breath". Early on way before his first MI and triple bypass in 1997, our Primary Dr casually suggested a sleep study because of his snoring but didn't fully explain the ramifications. I asked no questions either and ignored his advice because snoring was "no big deal". Once we got into the care of "cardiac specialists" after his heart attack, our wonderful Primary dr of 15yrs somehow got pushed into the background and sleep apnea was never mentioned again by anyone else. Then in 2002, another triple bypass and in 2005 an aortic valve replacement + 2 new bypasses. All this suffering and his health was still declining rapidly. We were seeing our family dr occasionally in between specialist visits for minor things but Mike was really too sick for any other intervention at the time. Then last year our Dr.C finally insisted, actually yelled that he had to go for a sleep study. He said he was convinced long ago that Mike had OSA but we had stopped going for our regular checkups with him because we were so involved with the other drs. I blame myself for that because I got selfish about spending so much time sitting in all these other doctors' offices. Fast forward to this morning. Mike had his usual 3month followup with Dr.C(we don't miss any of them now) and his blood tests were perfect, BP=120/70, cholesterol=138, heart & lungs sounded good, no ankle swelling,etc,etc. I swear I saw a few tears in the dr's eyes. He then joked with me about when was I going to stop looking at the daily data reports! I said Never! He was also happy to hear that I'm now finally sleeping better, he was concerned about that. I can't believe I wrote all this, I was only going to say thanks to Slinky. Oh well, I'm not deleting it now. Blessings to all, Dori

Dori,

So you and Mike are survivors too ? - another terrific (and forceful) bit of cpap feedback with a very lucky outcome for you both.

Thanks

DSM

[Muse-Inc]

Thanks Slinky...sent this incredible story to someone who's abandoned his CPAP and I can't interest him in coming here.

[mars]

Hi Slinky

That was a wonderful story, Slinky, and thank you for posting it.

I am going to print it out and send it to my Mother in England, so she can get a more realistic understanding of what sleep apnea can, and does, do to us.

cheers

Mars

[slapmeawake]

Thanks for that. I too will print it out and send it to my mother. She has had a sleep study done and has apnea but refuses to even try the machine because " I can't stand anything on my face." I have tried to talk to her to no avail. She criticizes me for "harping on it and picking on her" I am so concerned about her. She gets up all night long and when she does sleep she is snoring and choking etc. She is seeing a cardiologist and is on a lot of blood pressure and cholesterol meds. She is overweight and out of shape and 79 yrs. old. I think the only reason she has lasted as long as she has is because she does have a strong heart but she is stressing it so much I don't know how much longer it can hold out. Now she says she has trouble taking a deep breath. I told her this could be connected to her apnea. Anyway, I will type this out for her and mail it to her as she doesn't have email or a computer. She will just consider it meddling again but I will send it to her anyway. Much thanks for posting this.

[Muse-Inc]

...will type this out for her and mail it...

Click the Print View then print it or copy the text to a word (text) application and print that.

[2flamingos]

great story

but what concerns me is the arrogant patch 'em up and send 'em home attitude our medical establishment has implemented. a simple questionaire or o2 sat monitoring could have prevented the repeat heart attacks.
they tout prevention but do little ensure it

I don't know that it is the medical establishment, I think it is more the insurance companies!

Over the last few months I have had to deal with hospitals, doctors and isurance for my dad as he has been hospitalized three times (once for a heart attack and twice for diverticular bleeds). All three times the doc's have told us that they would have preferred for dad to stay another few days, but due to insurance requirements, they could not justify it - even for observation and/or physical therapy!

[Pineapple]

great story

but what concerns me is the arrogant patch 'em up and send 'em home attitude our medical establishment has implemented. a simple questionaire or o2 sat monitoring could have prevented the repeat heart attacks.
they tout prevention but do little ensure it

I don't know that it is the medical establishment, I think it is more the insurance companies!

I really think it is more what we call here at work the "my own little world" syndrome. One department can't comprehened how something from another department effects them. I see this in the medical field also. The doctor sees a heart issue and chases after a heart solution. There are very few doctors that "step out of the box" first and say "I know what it looks like, but could it be something else?" A friend of mine just spend a month off work because 3 doctors decided he had a neurological problem - doctor 4 (he's been on the waiting list for this guy) glanced at his paperwork and asked if he had ever had a sleep study - duh - dizziness in the morning, I should have seen that.

[SleepyNoMore]

Thanks for sharing Slinky,
What an amazing story, wow!

[sleepberri]

Thank you all for the nice comments on my hubby's progress, he enjoyed reading them! ~strawberri~

[Bert_Mathews]

Thank you all for the nice comments on my hubby's progress, he enjoyed reading them! ~strawberri~

Ignored advice of snoring because it was "no big deal" == It would be GREAT if THIS STORY could be PUT on "EVERY Dr.s DESK" too many of them think SNORING is "NO BIG DEAL"