CPAP or NO CPAP

This is the way I was geared up last night ..... I forgot my camera so this shot is off the web.

Last night I went for my sleep study. I was so resentful of even having to do this sleep study, but my surgeon wanted me to rule out my need for a CPAP before my surgery, so off I went. My resentment stemmed from the fact that I have not exhibited any of the typical signs of sleep apnea. I sleep all night, I don't stop breathing, I don't wake up gasping for breath, I wake up rested - most of the time (I do have 3 house dogs, so sometimes ... dogs happen..), I don't nap, except on Sundays, (that is mandatory isn't it), and okay I do snore but not all the time, plus my family doctor and I had discussed it about 2 years ago and he said he really hated to send me over for a sleep study because everyone he has sent has been placed on a CPAP and he was getting less hasty about sending patients because he was leary of the need (I paraphrased his words ...).

Well, sure enough this morning when I was awakened (with at least a hundred wires hanging off my head and 6 or 8 attached to my body), awakened - not for the first time since going to sleep at 10:30 PM the night before, and was told I would be going home with a CPAP. So, I asked - did I stop breathing any --Answer: No; was I snoring heavily, Answer: No, actually did not snore at all, so what was the problem? The only explanation I was given was that I had exhibited a couple of episodes of breathing difficulties. Well, HELLO - surgery in two weeks to hopefully correct this problem. I left the hospital with a CPAP, stewed and stressed until 2:30 PM about it, called my BCBS found out I was going to be responsible for about $700 of this device, got in my car and turned it back in.

Okay, I might have to go back and get it, but not until I hear the actual test results from my doctor; and, given medical reasons from the sleep doctor which will need to be backed up by my surgeon, before that happens. I did email my surgeon, who told me to take it back immediately and not to even think about purchasing a device until he sees the test results himself. I was so impressed, my surgeon actually emailed me. I had actually emailed his nurse to let her know about my sleep study and my surgeon actually responded, I am still in awe of this. I am a paralegal and we pay doctors thousands of dollars to talk to us and still have a hard time getting them to just respond to a letter. So this very quick and unexpected email was a new thing to me.

So CPAP or no CPAP, that is the question. We'll see.