Update on Illnesses

It's been awhile since I made an entry, mostly because of keyboard issues. To get all of my keys working, I have to do something (like type) enough to heat up the laptop. Then the keys start to work. Usually by the time I get the laptop warm enough, I'm fed up and/or bored and don't want to write anymore. Or I'm just too worn out mentally. So I haven't been doing my illness journal entry.

I haven't been doing much of anything actually. I haven't added to my NaNo project in weeks. I was just extra tired this month with it getting dark so early (stupid seasonal affective disorder) and not really sleeping.

But I finally caught a break. My husband woke me around 9am last Tuesday because I had a phone call from the medical device place. I was kind of surprised because when I talked to the lady on the 20th, she said they'd call to set up an appointment in 5 to 10 business days. It had been two business days and it was the week of a major holiday. I really hadn't expected a call until December just to set up the appointment and then probably another week or so of waiting before I could get in.

I was half asleep as I talked to this person, but in the end, they had an appointment for the next day (the day before Thanksgiving) if I could come in then. Thankfully, my husband took then entire week off so I could go anytime.

So Wednesday, I got my bew BiPAP machine. Much fancier than a straight up CPAP. It does all sorts of cool things like regulates the temperature and humidity of the air and sends reports to the doctors and me via internal cell service. I got my first report from the night before that said I was doing great--slept a good amount of hours, had a good seal on the mask and averaged .1 apnea event per hour. That's amazing. I was having 9 per hour without. So basically, with the number of hours I slept, I had just 1 apnea event the entire night.

I can't say whether it's really helping or not. The PA I talked to said she hopes I feel something right away because my symptoms were so severe, but it usually takes 4 to 6 weeks before people start to notice a difference in energy and stuff. I've till needed a nap a couple days, but I made it through the day after Thanksgiving without a nap and spent the entire day playing UNO with the kids. I usually only have the energy for a couple hands before I'm overwhelmed with fatigue (some of it physical but also mental because my kids stress me out).

I'm trying to take it one day at a time. The first two nights, I had trouble falling asleep because insomnia has set in and with the new mask over my face... it's not that it was bothering me in any way (it's fairly comfortable and fits over only my nose), it was just because it was there and new. My brain has a tendency to hyperfocus on stuff like that. So every few seconds, I'd go back to thinking about it and listening to my own breathing. The machine itself makes no noise which is fantastic. I remember my father-in-law's machine was so loud you could hear it through the entire house. But that was 17 years ago. Progress, I guess.

Anyway, I've used the device for four nights now and two naps. I think I have the mask adjusted so it stays put over my nose but doesn't cause bruising because the 2nd night, I couldn't sleep because of pain around my nose. I think that's fixed now.

Now if I can start to get some good sleep and get some energy back, I can start keeping up with the housework again (starting with my own room which is a disaster... don't even get me started on my bathroom). And then once the weather gets nice again, I can start going for walks and hopefully lose some of this weight. I guess I could go on a walk today since it's sunny, but I have gifts I have to make for Christmas.

So things are hopefully looking up.