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Newbie here and my story - wullybully76 - 08-22-2016
Hello all,
New to the forums and have been lurking and reading for a little bit.
Some background on me: I was diagnosed with OSA back in July 2010 after a sleep study. Received what I think was the ResMed S9 CPAP and started off fine using it and felt comfortable (sleeping much better and even lost a good amount of weight) but after 6 months, I started to feel uncomfortable with the air blowing while suffering from allergies at the time. Grew frustrated and gave up on the machine. I knew in my mind that I should have followed up with my doctor and figured out a solution but going through a painful and difficult divorce at the time, I had my mind on other things.
Forward to 2016, sleep of course had gotten worst over the years; would fall asleep almost anywhere and anytime and now I ask myself how I was able to function at work!! If I wasn't working, I wanted to stay at home and just try to sleep. Quality of life was poor.
At the end of April, I became really sick; fever that started at 101F and kept getting higher so my primary sent me to the ER and was admitted with adenovirus/severe pneumonia. I ended up staying in the hospital for 2 weeks.
Told the doctors that I was diagnosed back in 2010 with OSA but didn't tolerate the CPAP and in the ER, they saw my pulse ox drop to 86% when I was asleep so they put me on a BiPAP during my hospital stay and I was worried that I would hate it.
After many tests and being on IV antibiotics for a few days continuously, doctors saw my right lung wasn't clearing up as quickly and they wanted to do a bronchoscopy (procedure where I would be put to sleep so they can use a camera down my throat to check the lungs and get samples to find out if there was bacteria.)
Having OSA and oh, swollen tonsils, doctors were concerned I would stop breathing during the procedure and told me I'd have to get a breathing tube and would be in the ICU for recovery. That freaked me out enough with so many worrying thoughts but they wanted to wait a few days before going ahead to see if the swelling in my tonsils would go down.
Doctors saw the swelling go down and felt comfortable to do the procedure 3 days later plus they said I didn't need the breathing tube now which was the one thing I was really scared about for the procedure. Still worried about going under anesthesia but procedure went well and they were done in an hour.
I actually tolerated the BiPAP well and was able to get much needed rest at the hospital. The doctors wanted to make sure I went home with a machine so I stayed at the hospital an extra 2 days in order for my insurance to authorize it (insurance seems to move so slooooooow!) My experience at the hospital now enforces how much I need to manage my OSA and health so here I am on these forums trying to be proactive and informed.
My doctor had me do an overnight sleep study at the end of June for insurance purposes and to have a most recent report on my OSA. After reading this forum, I will be obtaining a copy of my sleep study results so I can better understand my OSA and treatment. He also ordered a breathing test which confirmed I also now have mild asthma.
Ok, I apologize for my wall of text here
but I hope by sharing my background that others who might feel like giving up or are getting frustrated realize that there will be road bumps on our journey but as we go on, our health will be so much better and our day to day lives will be improved.In just 4 months, I feel so much better overall than I had been in recent years. I have more energy now so I have been going to the gym more often. Heck, I'm even able to stay awake through an entire movie and enjoy it.
RE: Newbie here and my story - Crimson Nape - 08-22-2016
Hi wullybully76!
I hope your treatment continues to be positive.
RE: Newbie here and my story - rkl122 - 08-22-2016
Love stories like this. Welcome and thanx for sharing!
RE: Newbie here and my story - OpalRose - 08-22-2016
Welcome to Apnea Board wullybully76!
Thanks for sharing your story.
RE: Newbie here and my story - icyura10 - 08-22-2016
Welcome wullybully,
Were you one of the original member of Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs?
Glad to hear you're on your way... there's a bunch of fine folks here that seemingly know their stuff (I'm still trying to figure out which knob's to twist and buttons to push to make things better for myself) and I'm sure they'll be more than willing to share their experience, observations and recommendations! (They don't seem to be shy here1
)
RE: Newbie here and my story - trish6hundred - 08-22-2016
Hi wullybully76,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
It's great to hear that you are doing so well with your CPAP therapy, keep up the good work.
Hang in there for more responses to your post.
RE: Newbie here and my story - richb - 08-22-2016
Welcome to the Apnea Board forum wullybully76. Thanks for sharing your story.
Rich
RE: Newbie here and my story - wullybully76 - 08-23-2016
Thank you everyone for the warm welcome!!!
I'm so glad to have found this website as it has already proven to be very useful in improving my therapy.