I am not an animal!!!

I found this amusing...

I was chatting with my ex-wife (now very, very good friend) on the phone and I told her I was watching our son's basketball game and I was sitting with her folks and I was telling them about my CPAP therapy. And she was like, "You talked about it at the GAME???". And I figured she meant during the action because my pet peeve is nobody better talk to me while the game's going (which her parents are prone to do, but she's warned them so they're much better...). Anyway, I was like, "Not while the action was going on. During half time". She says, "In front of those other people???" (meaning my son's friends' parents...)

I was like, "LISTEN LADY!!! It's a medical condition, not a crime. I will NOT cower around hiding my CPAP machine like I'm a leper and if I want to discuss it, I WILL and I don't care WHO is around I'll hold my HOSE HEAD HIGH!!!".

She busted out laughing (as was intended). But it does strike me as funny that people are embarrassed about this stuff. It's CPAP for gawd's sake. It is what it is...

That was funny, Shark! Glad to hear your wife shares your good sense of humor.

I think there really is something that makes people a little squeamish about "cpap" in general. A mask, a machine, breathing through a hose... conjures up images of extremely ill people on respirators in ICU.

Or maybe just the idea of discussing anything medical at the game conjured up something like... ummm.. LBJ pulling up his shirt to show the world his gallbladder surgery scar!

LOL!!!! I also discuss my xpap with just about anyone who wants to listen, and probably with a few who don't .

Brenda

That is funny. I mean after all, it is not hemorrhoids.

My buddy and I were discussing CPAP in the stands before a high school football game. A lady near us overheard us and pleaded with me to have a word with her husband. She said he snores heavily, is only 38 and is always tired and sleepy, and refuses to be tested. I looked at the guy and he looked wasted. They had a couple of kids with them.

I said to him, "If you don't want your kids to grow up orphans, get tested and start using CPAP."

My wife says someone will beat my a@# over CPAP some day. I guess it helped me that night that my buddy is 6' 5".

rested gal wrote:That was funny, Shark! Glad to hear your wife shares your good sense of humor.

I think there really is something that makes people a little squeamish about "cpap" in general. A mask, a machine, breathing through a hose... conjures up images of extremely ill people on respirators in ICU.

Welllll, they ARE using bipaps there now....

yeah, i have 3 relatives on cpap, if were alone they talk, but ANYONE else around, forget it.

>>>She busted out laughing (as was intended). But it does strike me as funny that people are embarrassed about this stuff.>>>>
I dont go out of my way to announce it to the world, or get preachy to someone who snores on the airplane. It is what it is. When my boy's orthodontist jammed a headgear into his braces and told him to wear it 14 hours a day, he didnt go announcing it to his friends. They only saw it when they came over for dinner or billiards at night.
But ,then there are those with insurance that covers anything and everything, so their doctors bite on the opportunity. First its apnea, then digestive problems, then carpal tunnel, then a crooked legs from a car accident 30 years ago, and then on and on>>>>

There's a slew of reactions it seems.

The more negative ones I've seen range from people that are a little scared of it and others who believe its a scam.

john_dozer wrote:...The more negative ones I've seen range from people that are a little scared of it and others who believe its a scam.

Frankly, after the contraption was fit to me and I tried it for a night, I called my doctor and asked him if it was a racket (stayed away from the word "scam"). He said try it for six months, and if you feel better and are healthier, then it's not a racket. But, if it doesnt' help you, it is a racket

rested gal wrote:... A mask, a machine, breathing through a hose... conjures up images of extremely ill people on respirators in ICU.

Or the Borg.



We are CPAP of Borg. Apneas are fatal. You will be hosed.

Billy6 wrote:

john_dozer wrote:...The more negative ones I've seen range from people that are a little scared of it and others who believe its a scam.

Frankly, after the contraption was fit to me and I tried it for a night, I called my doctor and asked him if it was a racket (stayed away from the word "scam"). He said try it for six months, and if you feel better and are healthier, then it's not a racket. But, if it doesnt' help you, it is a racket

Billy...cpap and apnea are neither scams nor rackets.

Sleep apnea can KILL you (just ask some of the members here who have lost loved ones to apnea). Tell me - is a pacemaker a scam?

This machine is keeping you breathing at night. Last I checked, oxygen getting to your brain and your internal organs was a REQUIREMENT of survival. I'm pretty sure why we have those nifty little things called lungs.

If I had given up at six months, I probably would have had a heart attack or stroke by now. Stick with it as long as it takes. It WILL help you, it WILL save your life, but you have to let it do that.

It's not a scam - pre-therapy exhaustion proved that for me.

It is, however, a potentially profitable line of business, so as consumers we must be watchful.

jda1000 wrote:It's not a scam - pre-therapy exhaustion proved that for me.

It is, however, a potentially profitable line of business, so as consumers we must be watchful.

Yes, profitable businesses need to be watched closely by consumers. Unprofitable businesses need to be watched even more closely. And governmental organizations are the worst of all.

The therapy itself is not a scam.....it works. However, sometimes I wonder about those who are doing the screening and handing out the equipment......without further education of the patients. With the level of "support" I've seen many, many people report, they might as well be selling these machines at Wal-Mart.....and I predict there will be a time when that will happen.


Den