Team Coverage

-
"I love sleep. My life has the tendency to fall apart when I'm awake, you know?"― Ernest Hemingway

Every night I get into bed with mission control.

I suffer from sleep apnea, a disorder characterized by intermittent reductions in breathing, including complete pauses that cause me to wake up in the middle of the night.

I've tried meditation, sleep gummies, a special mouth guard, and now, for the second time in about eight years, a CPAP machine.

CPAP, or Continuous Positive Airway Pressure, is a medical device that uses mild, steady air pressure to keep your airways open while you sleep. It is the most common and, supposedly, the most effective treatment for obstructive sleep apnea.

You have to wear a nose guard or mask all night long and feed the thing a healthy supply of distilled water to keep it running.

The National Sleep Foundation estimates that 8 to 10 million people in the United States regularly use a CPAP machine, the primary treatment prescribed for obstructive sleep apnea, and I'm one of them.

My first experience with this device didn't go well. Within a few weeks, I told my sleep doctor it wasn't working.

He sent me to a dentist in Manhattan who fitted me with a special mouth guard, but that hasn't helped much either.

One-third to more than half of patients either stop using their CPAP machine or never bother filling their prescription, mostly because of mask discomfort or setup issues.

Meanwhile, I'm reading all these dire warnings about the harmful effects of untreated sleep apnea, including anxiety, fatigue, and low productivity.

The Snore the Merrier

There's also an increased risk of dementia, high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke. Oddly enough, this knowledge hasn't helped my sleeping problem.

A few months ago, I decided to see another sleep doctor, who immediately said I should get a CPAP machine.

I told her about my unsuccessful go-round with the device, but she said I could get a specially fitted mask.

So I jackassed out to some part of Brooklyn I'd never seen before, dropping a load of money on car service, to get a new machine.

The woman at the facility told me this CPAP device is wired up so my sleep doctor, the company that makes the machine, and my insurance carrier can all monitor how much I use it.

I feel like an astronaut being tracked by NASA. I sure hope they're not watching when I go to the bathroom.

I'm required to use the machine at least four hours a night or the insurance company won't pay for it.

I jokingly suggested that I should switch the thing on and go watch TV, but it turns out the CPAP's sensors can tell whether the mask is actually on your mug, which is downright spooky.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do. My primary care doctor doesn't want me taking sleep medication because she believes it can be unhealthy for people in my age bracket. And I'm not anxious to take pills every night myself.

I've got an overnight sleep study coming up in February, the earliest appointment available, to see whether I'm eligible for an implant device.

If so, I'll have to go back to sleeping alone.

Comments

Bijoux said…
I remember during the pandemic, I couldn't find any distilled water for my steam mop and wondered who was buying it up! Several bloggers informed me about the CPAP's use. It sounds very uncomfortable and I can understand your hesitation to try again. I hope the February appointment has some alternative suggestions.
5:07 AM
Rob Lenihan said…
Oh, thank you, Bijoux. I had no idea we had a distilled water shortage during the pandemic. Several of my friends who read this post told me they were having sleep troubles, too. It's a big problem.
3:40 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Bystander Effect

-
Image
Winston Moseley knew no one would stop him. “I knew they wouldn't do anything,” he told police after his arrest. “They never do.” Moseley murdered Kitty Genovese in Queens in 1964 in one of the most infamous murder cases in modern times. The horrific crime gained worldwide attention largely because of a New York Times article that said “38 respectable, law-abiding citizens” did nothing while Moseley attacked Kitty Genovese on three separate occasions. The story sparked worldwide condemnation and provided material for writers and composers, including the Phil Ochs song “ Outside of a Small Circle Friends .” There was talk of the Bystander Effect or the Genovese Effect and the words “I didn’t want to get involved” summed up life in the big city. The Kitty Genovese case is the subject of a new documentary called The Witness that explores the mythology surrounding the murder. The film features Kitty’s brother, Bill, who was 16 years old at the time of his sister’s murder. ...
Read more

‘Permanently Closed’

-
Image
And, so, another local landmark is gone. My sister and I passed by O’Sullivan’s Bar & Grill in Bay Ridge last night during our after-dinner walk and saw nothing but darkness. There were no lights shining from this old Irish saloon that the O’Sullivan family took over in 1934. There were no customers outside taking a cigarette break on Third Avenue; no voices, music or laughter emenating from the corner business on 89th Street. A dark bar on a Saturday night only means one thing, but I didn’t want to accept the grim reality. I had to walk up to the front door, grab hold of the handle and pull back. But the place was locked up tight. This morning I jumped on the Internet in hopes of learning that the owners were on vacation, or that they were renovating the place and would be reopening in grand style any day now. But the bar’s Yelp page was branded with two grisly words at the top: “Permanently Closed.” I’ve been searching around local message boards for any ind...
Read more

Making Book

-
Image
My novel, Born Speaking Lies , is going to be published on Saturday. That sounds so strange to me. After all the time, energy, and grief I put into the manuscript it’s a little hard to believe it’s actually going to be a book. I’ve racked up an untold amount of rejections, and I got awfully close to a deal with one publisher a few years ago, but they turned me down because they don't do crime fiction. Finally the lovely people at Fomite Press in Burlington, Vermont agreed to publish my story about a bunch of Brooklyn gangsters who raise a whole lot of hell between here and the Poconos. And so here we go. I started writing this book on a typewriter back when my parents were still alive, my two nieces had yet to be born, and Reagan was president. Now I can’t honestly say I’ve worked on the book for all those years—not even close. I’d put it aside, take up some other project that I was certain would pay off handsomely, only to see that effort come up empty. Take it from...
Read more