I wanted to report in after two days under the mask. First off, Thanks Woody for the support and encouragement. I am very happy that you were able to overcome the issues and are living a healthier life. Also, thanks again to Jan for the incisive and relevant advice - as to your observation about the sleep clinic throwing me to the dogs, it is an excellent point, however, I think I can explain what happened. I live in a small town and there is one large, regional DME, Boardman Medical Supply, that 99% of people use. In my case, with out of state insurance due to my company's home office location, BMS was not in network. Boardman Medical called me and asked if I wanted them to send it to another company. I checked online and found Lincare was the in network provider, so I asked her to send it to them. She apparently sent it to Apria and not Lincare. My wife, trying to help, sent it to whom she thought was Lincare- but it was actually Americare (Owned by Lincare). Not sure if BMS made a simple error or purposely sent my info to Apria. I must note - Apria is a VERY persistent company. I had to be a bit brusque with them to get the calls to finally stop. Either way, it would be difficult, in my opinion, to prove they violated HIPPA.
As for my treatment, I am very pleasantly surprised to find how easily I am seeming to adapt to sleeping under the mask. My first evening the mask felt very weird and out of place. I was initially unnerved by exhaling into positive pressure - but I adapted so quickly that when wakening briefly around 3:00AM, I thought the machine had turned off because I felt like I was breathing so normally. Adding to the confusion, the machine was dark - and so quiet that it contributed to the illusion. Obviously when I pulled the mask off and felt the airflow I knew it was working - but I shut it off and restarted just to be sure. I woke up early and other than a very dry mouth, felt fine. Last night was even easier - no issues at all and a solid good night's sleep. I adjusted the humidifier and had a quick spray of Biotene and no dry mouth this morning. I must confess that I did have two (maybe three) fingers of bourbon before retiring, but that was to alleviate the anxiety that I felt.
The only problem is the marks the mask makes on my face. My forehead has two very red ovals and the bridge of my nose is bright red. I feel no pain or discomfort all night - but in the morning, the nose is a bit tender. Since I have a full beard, I probably have the mask a bit tighter than usual - but any suggestions would be welcomed.
My sleep study reported that I had an AHI of 81 and my Oxygen saturation was 96% with 40% of sleep time below 89%, lowest saturation was 71%. As indicated by the Sleepytime charts below, I think I am finally getting a restful, good night's sleep. (sorry for the image size - I'm not an expert....)
Many thanks again to everyone's great advice and counsel - I look forward to the day when I can become one of the seasoned veterans helping the noobs!
Best,
Mike
