Okay, Liam, where are you????

GTOJim · Post by **GTOJim** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 6:10 pm

I’m another person who would hate to see Liam leave. I love his humor.

Most off all I hope he is able to get through his problems in using his CPAP.

glassgal · Post by **glassgal** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 11:57 pm

Hi Liam,

Glassgal misses you too!

You have to do what is best for you, and only you can make that decision. I hope that you are feeling better and can work things out. We miss you here!

I finally saw my new sleep doctor today -- I am SO glad that I didn't try to stick with the first one -- this one is so much more willing to work with me instead of wanting to order me around! I have also had good results from my autoPAP -- PB420E -- much more comfortable to be a even a few notches lower on the pressure most of the night!

I have really enjoyed your blog -- for those of you who want to laugh and cry, check it out. Just click on the highlighted name "Liam" in this thread and you will go to his website.

Good luck and sleep well (with or without the "beast")

Jane

littlebaddow · Post by **littlebaddow** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 1:19 am

Tired-in-Tenn wrote: I've enjoyed reading your posts on this board! Where is your blog located?

Tired-in-Tenn

Tired, here's the link:

http://www.liamjohnson.net/

-SWS · Post by **-SWS** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 11:00 am

Shane... don't go! Shane.... come back!

Shane!!!??

John, RN · Post by **John, RN** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 5:28 pm

Yo Liam!

Ever seen the Big Lebowski ?

"I see you rolled your way into the semis. Liam and me, we gonna **** you up!!"

Don't leave the forum man, you 've kept me rolling even though I just signed up....This apnea stuff is a pain in the arse but stay persistant, you can beat it. I've been doing this for about 3mos, and I'm much happier despite having a bad night here and there. Ebay is a lifesaver too. Every time I see you post I laugh, because you remind me of my favorite movie!!!

nodding off · Post by **nodding off** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 8:46 pm

Hi Liam,
Best of luck to you. I've been in your shoes. I also had a terrible time adjusting to cpap. I woke up with panic attacks, grabbed an hour or 2 of sleep per night at best and was a wreck. I had UPPP surgery and my nose done (grossly deviated septum) in order to avoid it' but still needed cpap. I went on it in 1995, 6 months after my surgery, and about a year later put the machine away for a while. Unfortunately for me, my osa is severe (AHI over 90, O2 level 78%) and I am a zombie without treatment. I finally went back to the machine, but it took the onset of diabetes and hypertension (caused in part by weight gain and depression brought on by being exhausted all the time) to make me take my condition seriously and learn to live with it. Now I sleep well on the hose, but it wasn't easy. Please look at what happenned to me and seek some sort of treatment for your condition. Possibly the new pillar surgery might work for you, or a dental appliance. Just please don't give up seeking a solution, because your life is at stake. 75% is not good enough, and we all deserve better! I wish you well, and will certainly miss your great sense of humor if you depart.
Sleep well!
Nodding Off

Liam1965 · Post by **Liam1965** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 5:11 am

OK, I've been thinking about it (while spending the week trying desperately to catch up on a project that's really important and was ALREADY behind BEFORE I missed a week with the flu)...

I would miss CPAPTALK if I left entirely...

On the other hand, I don't want to be JUST comic relief, and there will be a somewhat limited range of things I feel qualified to comment on (somehow, the words of someone who gave up just don't have that much weight).

So I'll stick around, lurking, and occasionally when I think I have something valid to say (or on a day when I'm feeling particularly silly and not caring about being "just comic relief") I'll throw something out there...

Just a lot less prolific than I've been (leaving Mikesus a clear shot at the #3 spot, and rested gal safe in her #2 for a bit longer).

Liam, who loves St. Patty's Day, but is glad to be back from his yearly incarnation as "Paddy O'Furniture".

Mikesus · Post by **Mikesus** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 5:49 am

Liam. Better yet, lets put our heads together and get the treatment working for you... If it is a mask problem, I am sure that there are enough spares floating around these parts for you to try just about any mask. Give it a shot?

gailzee · Post by **gailzee** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 7:48 am

Hi Liam:
You're not comic relief. You're a smart savvy guy with a wonderful sense of humor, I checked out ur http://www.site and enjoyed reading what's ''happening'' with you/and your world. Please keep on posting, maybe the guys can think of a way to restart the c-pap engine for you, and we look forward to hearing about how YOU are........? Not just your humor......so please hang in there with us...........if you leave I can safely say I think I can speak for all (if not most--anonymous guests aside) we would miss YOU!

Hang in there, ok?

Liam1965 wrote:OK, I've been thinking about it (while spending the week trying desperately to catch up on a project that's really important and was ALREADY behind BEFORE I missed a week with the flu)...

I would miss CPAPTALK if I left entirely...

On the other hand, I don't want to be JUST comic relief, and there will be a somewhat limited range of things I feel qualified to comment on (somehow, the words of someone who gave up just don't have that much weight).

So I'll stick around, lurking, and occasionally when I think I have something valid to say (or on a day when I'm feeling particularly silly and not caring about being "just comic relief") I'll throw something out there...

Just a lot less prolific than I've been (leaving Mikesus a clear shot at the #3 spot, and rested gal safe in her #2 for a bit longer).

Liam, who loves St. Patty's Day, but is glad to be back from his yearly incarnation as "Paddy O'Furniture".

Liam1965 · Post by **Liam1965** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 10:07 am

Tired-in-Tenn wrote:I've enjoyed reading your posts on this board! Where is your blog located?

I think someone answered this, but I just re-read the topic (catching up on stuff I haven't read this past week or so), and realized I never answered it.

Officially, it's at http://www.liamjohnson.net but if you forget that, virtually any time someone uses the word Liam in a post, it gets auto-linked to my blog.

(I say virtually because if someone puts quotes around it, like "Liam", or turns off auto-links in their post, it won't happen.)

Liam, who posted a new essay on hairloss this morning...

mommaw · Post by **mommaw** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 10:20 am

Liam,

Friends don't give up on friends! You are a friend to most on this board and we have missed you. Remember back in your college days (I know it's hard, but try) we had friends that got married and were "out of the circle", we didn't quit on them just because they got married. Just because you are not using cpap every night does NOT mean that you don't have sleep apnea. So why would we give up on you? This board is about people struggling with sleep apnea, not about being a "hose head". We are all in this together and we have to stick together. No one else understands what we are going through like the friends we have on this board. Please stay active on this board and continue to be our friend and help us with your wisdom and wit. It means a lot to most of us!

Gilda

Liam1965 · Post by **Liam1965** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 10:47 am

I appreciate that, I really do.

Current status with me, just as an update: I had my appointment with the doctor at the sleep lab. While there, I asked him about Auto Titrating CPAPs. His answer, while not the popular one, was at least a little bit more understandable than some I've heard...

He feels that Auto machines aren't sufficient because they can only detect certain types of issues. He feels a full sleep study is a better option because with the O2 sensor and the chest straps and the EEG and EKG and the rest, they can detect a lot more of what is going on than just apneic events, and can titrate a pressure which seems to have the most beneficial effect on EVERYTHING, not just breathing stoppages.

Now, how much of this makes sense I don't know. But certainly I have to agree that they can measure more with an EEG and an EKG and electrodes to detect restless leg syndrome and abdomen strips to detect chest effort while TRYING to breathe, etc.... than could possibly be measured simply by detecting variables in the flow rate and possibly the sound of a snore.

None of which helps me, if I can't get past having the machine on to the point that I can sleep, but I don't think an Auto would help that.

Liam, stripped of mask, stripped of sleep, stripped of hair, but thankfully not stripped of clothing!

wading thru the muck! · Post by **wading thru the muck!** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 12:02 pm

Liam,

I don't think an auto would help you to feel at ease with the mask on. That said, you Doc is full of Hoowee. The 'pap will not treat anything but the OSA. It will not treat CSA or RLS or even a low GPA. It troubles me when a Doc says things that make me think he is confused about how the human body works. Maybe in med school he tried to treat is low GPA with a cpap.

Liam1965 · Post by **Liam1965** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 12:11 pm

wading thru the muck! wrote:Maybe in med school he tried to treat is low GPA with a cpap.

Well... my impression of him is that he may have tried to treat a low IQ with CPAP. Certainly his patient-side manner leaves much to be desired. How I wish my PCP (everything I ever wanted in a doctor, and I'm not exaggerating) knew more about apnea.

Liam, having no luck treating low sperm count with CPAP.

littlebaddow · Post by **littlebaddow** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 12:19 pm

Well... my impression of him is that he may have tried to treat a low IQ with CPAP. Certainly his patient-side manner leaves much to be desired. How I wish my PCP (everything I ever wanted in a doctor, and I'm not exaggerating) knew more about apnea.

So how about finding a different sleep doc

Okay, Liam, where are you????

I miss Liam too!

Liam

Liam--you're more than ''comic relief"

Mask

Additional Comments: Solo LX CPAP as backup/HC 150 Humidifier, using the Aussie heated hose too!!

Mask	Humidifier

Additional Comments: Pur~Sleep Oils (Love Them) Aussie Heated Hose, Encore Analyzer, Pad-A-Cheek Guards (Work Great!)

Machine	Mask

Machine	Mask

Machine	Mask

Machine	Mask