help me address these comments

snoozeandlose1 wrote:

Calist wrote:

I have since learned that snoozeandlose is a long-time cpapper and a member of our forum since 1995 although she has not posted in almost a year. I think she came to say hello at the wrong time and place when tempers were hot. I don't believe she thinks patients are really "stupid" but is mainly frustrated with the medical community. I apologize for my comments. EDIT: Sorry I posted this incorrectly and don't know how to fix it. DoriC wrote this paragraph.

I hate to say this because I know that no one wants to hear it. I hate to say to say it but... patients are stupid. That is not entirely fair I know, lets say that 90% of patients are stupid.

Oh, thank you, thank you for your comments. They are soooooo true. I am an occupational therapist who has had to explain to far too many
nurses how a CPAP works and why using O2 does not accomplish the same thing. Can you say airway blockage? Do you even know that extra O2 as opposed to room air is not going to get the lungs if the airway has collapsed? I believe that stupidity is rampant among patients and some healthcare pros. And unfortunately, you can't learn common sense in school.

Since I have used CPAP for more than 10 years with varying degrees of comfort and compliance I am a huge advocate for addressing it. Some of my routine evaluation questions are: how well do you sleep, do you feel rested in the morning, DO YOU SNORE, how many times do you wake up in the night and how many times do you get up to pee during the night. I have suggested sleep studies to many patients who can not understand why they would be sleep deprived when they get up to pee five times a night and sleep all day in their easy chairs. I have tried to get numerous docs to address excessive urinary frequency so the patient can get full night's sleep with very little cooperation.

I have HTN which I was told was from unaddressed OSA as well as a few heart issues that luckily have not caused any problems except for Atrial flutter. I explain to patients that untreated OSA can cause strokes and MIs. The usually reply is "...well iI couldn't stand that mask." Most don't know they can get different style masks and that it might take several months to adjust to CPAP.

Guess I have become an over informed consumer and find it hard to understant why patients are not interested enough in their own well being to educate themselves on health care issues. Stupidity and laziness abound.

By the way my husband died of a heart attack in our living room and yes, I will say to people well you could have a heart attack without CPAP because they need to hear the hard unvarnished truth from someone since docs usually don't or won't say it so people get it.