It's Finally Here

Friday my bi-pap machine was finally delivered.

I've had several people ask me how it's going.

Well, it's going.

It's going to take a lot of getting used to.  I've asked others who also have a machine how long it took them to get used to it.  I've been told anywhere from a couple of nights to about forty-five days.

The head gear is hard to adjust.  Just when I think I've got it adjusted correctly, my head hits the pillow and everything slides out of place.  It's so frustrating.  It's hard trying to find the balance between not having it too tight and not having it too loose.

Once it's on, there's no chatting with Nathan.  I can't open my mouth after the machine is turned on.  It's like holding your head outside the car window traveling 80 mph.

I asked Nathan if the noise bothers him.  Typically he can sleep through anything.  He laughed and said the noise didn't bother him, but he felt like a fan was blowing on him.  I require so much pressure the air coming out of the vents feels like a window fan set on high.  So when I lay on my side facing him I have to put a pillow on it's side to create a barrier.

My CIDP causes me to be in constant pain, and if I stay in one position too long the pain significantly increases.  I do a lot of shifting from one side to the other.  The machine allows me to go into such a deep sleep that I don't move at all.  So far I haven't been able to sleep more than two hours at any given time.  After a couple of hours I wake up out of a deep sleep crying I'm in so much pain.  An obstacle I didn't anticipate.  I am certain that if weren't waking up in pain, I'd sleep much longer.

I may only be sleeping for two hours at a time, but I can definitely tell I've slept well.  I am convinced I would sleep much longer if it weren't for the pain being so bad, but for now I sleep a couple of hours at a time.  I'll sit up for awhile and try to calm my pain down, and then go back to bed for a couple of more hours ... or until the alarm goes off.

So right now I'm in the adjustment phase.  I am still committed to be compliant with this.  Being told I stopped breathing 153 times in an hour, and my O2 sats dropped to 60 will compels me to be compliant.