In the course of a death investigation (I am a police officer) I called the coroner and was giving him information about the condition of the body, how I found her, was the room orderly, all of these things are routine and he was taking the information for his report. I told him, “I found paperwork indicating that the deceased had sleep apnea and the CPAP machine was running when I entered the room, the facemask had been removed by the paramedics when they tried to revive her.” His response, instead of the very professional responses I had been hearing was, “Well those things are everywhere now.”
For anyone who has not been afflicted, Sleep Apnea is potentially deadly sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly starts and stops while the patient is sleeping. Symptoms are loud snoring and feeling tired even after a full night’s sleep. A CPAP Machine is a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure machine that forces a combination of air and distilled water into the user’s/patient’s mouth and nose to prevent the breathing inconsistencies. (The distilled water is to prevent the mouth from drying out from the forced air.)
I was diagnosed with sleep apnea about ten years ago and I’ve been using a CPAP machine ever since. I’m such a veteran CPAP user that I wore the first one out and I’m working on number two now. Since I got mine two of my sons were diagnosed with Sleep Apnea and are using CPAPs also. We are buying more distilled water than milk in my house now.
Just a note, in case you were concerned, the CPAP seems to be helping me. I’m getting a little more energy and I haven’t died in my sleep. A side bar to that comment is that when I started using the CPAP I was married, and now I’m not. I don’t believe the CPAP caused my divorce. The snoring that the CPAP now prevented might have caused it, or maybe I did something else wrong. Oh well, back the the subject.
When the coroner said how common CPAPs were becoming a thought occurred to me that this is very similar to a right of passage in my childhood, Tonsillectomies. If you hadn’t had one by second grade you weren’t cool. The rumors were that they were simple procedures that helped a lot of doctors buy their wives, girlfriends or both minks and jewelry.
The CPAP machine wasn’t even invented until 1980, and now everyone has one. Well, maybe not everyone, maybe just all the “kids” that already got their tonsils out.
Any comments or thoughts would be appreciated.
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Well, I didn’t have a tonsillectomy but do have sleep apnea. My aunt told me I better go get checked. She could hear me snoring above the TV, 2 fans, and the doors closed the their bedroom and my bedroom. I was always tired, sinuses and throat dry. At first I didn’t notice but my cat no longer slept with me. Too noisy I guess. Once I got the CPAP machine the cat was back. Every night Jazz would come in and nose bump the part that goes over your nose. Boing, boing, boing, just as I was falling asleep. It was a good way to end the day with a laugh.