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Ok there is a saying that you dont know how bad you felt till you feel better.  This truly applys to the CPAP.

For those of you who dont know a CPAP machine stands for Constant Positive Air Pressure.  This is a device you have on your night stand that has hoses connecting to a face mask you wear over your nose.  It increases the pressure behind the breaths you take through your nose as you sleep.  It is designed to alleviate something called Sleep Apnea.  Basically this is when you STOP BREATHING over the course of your nights sleep.  If that sounds bad that's because IT IS!  This is something that can KILL you.  At the very least it will wreck your nights sleep whether you know it or not!  Sleep apnea will keep you from getting the deep restorative sleep you need as a functioning human being.  Frequently you wont wake up to the point that you remember or realize that your sleep has been interrupted.  This explains why sometimes people wake up feeling more tired then they did before they slept.  And as you can imagine the strain you put on your body especially your heart is unimaginable!

To find out if you could benefit from a CPAP machine you need to participate in a sleep study.  This is truly an adventure!  You got to a sleep lab when its close to time for you to go to bed, they hook you up to an EKG and an EEG machine.  This translates to about 10,000 wires attached to your chest and head (actually its like 10 or 15) which feed into a box on your chest and that sends signals to a monitoring station.  Then, and this is the funny part, they wish you a good night and tell you to "get comfortable" and go to sleep! lol  Actually they are all very kind and the room they have you in is VERY comfortable and falling asleep even with all that hardware is suprisingly easy.

Then about an hour after you've been sleeping....THEY WAKE YOU UP!! and in my case they inform me that during my hour long sleep I stopped breathing 44 times!!!!!  Then they put a CPAP mask on you which feels truly wierd and put you back to bed.  Five hours later I woke up and felt absolutely WONDERFUL.  They came in, removed all of the wires, were very kind and didnt mention I had the worst case of "bed head" in history.  You leave feeling refreshed looking goofy and with a fresh recommendation for a CPAP machine of your very own.  

I have been using my machine for the last two weeks and my snoring has stopped completely!!  (my wife wants to send the manufacturer a big plate of cookies!!)  I used to buy alot of Breathe Right strips which are a wonderful product, but after a CPAP they are completely unnecessary.  I used to have a feeling of suffocating during the night at times....GONE!  I have had more energy during the course of my day than I have known in years.  I get up in the morning feeling like a million bucks and with more than enough energy to hit the treadmill first thing in the AM. 

so....Thank You!,  to the technicians at the sleep lab (FYI you could tell folks about the "bed head" condition so they dont embarass themselves at Quick Trip on the way home like I did!)  Thanks to whomever it was that invented the damned thing in the first place.  And my thanks to Respironics for making such a wonderful product.  Here's to your health!!

So.....today I have my preoperative visit to get everything scheduled, layed out, packed up, etc. etc.  Im pretty sure all of my few remaining questions will be answered.  If I can give advice to anyone it would be as you come up with questions....make a list so you dont get home as I have a couple of times and go...."Damn!  I forgot to ask that!!"  So far Im on track with everything Ive lost over 20 pounds on the liquid diet so far,  probably to lose another 10-15 before the 19th.  I tell you I never thought I would be watching the food channel like it was PORN!  Also have my first support group meeting tonight.  Really looking forward to that actually....

Last night I had "dinner" with my inlaws brother, sister, mother, as well as my own immediate family.  They were enjoying a delicious meal while I was was sipping my protein shake.  They were asking me questions about my up coming surgery and really took the time to let me know they were in my corner. I am fortunate in so many ways but my family beats all (and if you think yours is better then good for you! : ).  They are really cool and have been a big part of my life for nearly 25 years now.  So let me take the oppertunity to shout out to them and say......Thanks Guys!  Love you all!

Well, the first week of my liquid diet has come to an end.  For the most part I've been a faithful dieter.  Ive dropped about 15 pounds so far planning on dropping between 30 and 40 prior to surgery.  The hunger pangs have subsided considerably.....but it still sucks.

Thanks Again! to my own personal Angel .  Your generosity leaves me speechless....

Ok so Im on my fifth day of the liquid diet and so far Im holdin my own.  I long to eat some actual food but I know this is only temporary.  The good news is in the last 5 days Ive lost 11 pounds.

I had my physical today as well got the results of my blood work.  They were good triglycerides are a little bit high not too bad but that will all be rectified very soon because.....

                                                              
I have my date!!  August 18th....thats the big day Im very excited!  I feel like a kid on Christmas eve....you know....... if that kid was expecting Santa to gut him like a sea bass!

Day Three.... still sucks.  Had a dream last night that I was banging Mrs. Butterworth...

Day two.......this sucks!!

OK clearing the last of the hurdles.  Met with my cardiologist and had an EKG.  He says everything looks great and has no problem signing off on my surgery. 

One more hurdle to go... 

I missed my routine physical last year for some reason Im still trying to figure out.  So before my PCP will sign off he wants me to come in for one.  I have no problem with this, Im a big believer in the annual physical.

Got a call in to the lady who does the scheduling for the Surgeon and hopefully sometime today I will have a date!!  Im hoping for the 13th or the 14th of this month...

OK!  So my sleep study is done.  They told me prior to placing me on the CPAP I had approximately 44 episode of apnea.  After, I had none.  I slept pretty well after, not waking untill it was time for me to leave, around 0530.  I have the absolute worst case of bedhead I have ever known!  lol  I feel like I tried to style my hair with toothpaste.  REALLY looking forward to having a shower. 

Today I start my 2 week minimum liquid diet prior to surgery.  At least I know the soy protein shake mix I have is very palatable.  I was relieved when she said I could use it instead of the whey protein.  I think the whey has a very off putting aftertaste. She told me to use 1 scoop of the mix in 4 ounces of  WATER and drink that 5 times a day.  The good news is she told me I could continue with my decaf coffee!  I would have cried if that was taken away from me.

Well I guess thats enough for now......more to follow......