So, sleep apnea is a sleep disorder in which the afflicted sufferer stops breathing repeatedly during the night. And, I desperately need sleep apnea help. I need to stop pretending like this isn’t a MAJOR PROBLEM in my life. Wow. That sounds so much more awful to me when I type it out.
I’ve suffered from sleep apnea for many years. This isn’t a good thing. Aside from the ways in which it hurts your health and disrupts the process of getting a good night’s rest: the actual process of waking up gasping for air can range from unpleasant to terrifying.
So, during the year 2021 I’ve continued to try and take care of my health concerns. Like a lot of people, I put things off. I pretend like problems aren’t really problems. A lot, I think, could be said about this: you know, the whole putting off going to the doctor to actually directly address the problem.
In some cases, in the USA, unfortunately, I know the procrastination results from our horrific “healthcare” system. Horrific because it’s too damn expensive and for some insane reason that no one’s yet been able to explain to me: it’s somehow tied to your employment.
Call me crazy, but I’m still struggling to understand how sorting mail at the post office or teaching high school kids algebra or being between jobs or working as a minimum wage cashier at Walmart is in any way connected to how much getting a cavity filled will cost you. I mean, if you need a loaf of bread, it’s cost isn’t dependent upon whether you’re an underpaid cashier or a lawyer for the government.
I mean…there’s not two different prices for orange juice and Oreo cookies dependent upon where you work.
I’ve been struggling for the past thirty years to understand why the cost of getting your broken leg fixed varies upon where you work at… I just don’t see the logic. Taking care of our brains and bodies should be affordable to everyone. Period.
So, I need sleep apnea help. I want to sleep through the night. This will help my life and health in so many ways.
I’m really curious to see if they’re give me a CPAP machine. I already did the sleep test months ago. The verdict was I had “moderate to severe sleep apnea.” The verdict was I needed the machine. But, my insurance fought it. They said, “No, sir! We need to know the oxygen levels and that test didn’t provide oxygen levels.”
It seems to me my insurance was looking for a way to deny the request.
So, I’m told that doing this appointment at neurosurgery is what it’ll take to get the CPAP machine approved. Then, at night, you put the CPAP gizmo over your nose and mouth and blissfully snooze away without waking up gasping…
…hopefully…
By the way, there are different types of sleep apnea. My problem is called Obstructive sleep apnea: which means the throat muscles are relaxing excessively and blocking the airway. The CPAP machine forces air through the airway to keep it open. CPAP stands for continuous positive airway pressure.