Saturday, February 26, 2011

Silent Night (I Hope)

Today is a day of rejoicing here in Arizona - or at least in our bedroom.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Barry has been wearing a CPAP mask for his sleep apnea for about a year and a half.  While the machine has definitely reduced his snoring and helped the quality and quantity of his sleep, the mask itself has been a constant source of irritation - rubbing his nose, shooting air into his eyes, and making noises like a heavy surf at Big Sur.  Of course the machine was free from the V.A., so Barry has been reluctant to complain for fear it would be taken away and given to some more grovelingly grateful recipient.

Recently, however, the friend who originally suggested the CPAP to Barry mentioned that Medicare pays for a replacement mask every three months.  Barry immediately ordered a new mask from the V.A. and it arrived today.

Lo and behold, this mask has a forehead adjustment that the old mask did not.  After about ten minutes of fiddling with it, we were able to fit the mask to his face firmly but comfortably.  No more pressure on his nose.  No more gusts of air on his eyelids.  No more (I hope) bitching and moaning about the evil CPAP mask.  Because the seal is secure, this mask even makes less noise than the old one!  Hallelujah!!

Now if only we could do something about the cat's snoring problem...


“Laugh and the world laughs with you, snore and you sleep alone.” ~Anthony Burgess

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