A Specialist Visit For Sleep Apnea

Author's Note: I was diagnosed last November or December with Sleep Apnea. My recent appointment was to find out if an adjustment to the machine was needed and to confirm that I am doing better.

It is Sleep Apnea, I was told

Can I be so bold

To tell you, "I don't think so."

I was tested just ten years ago.

I didn't have it then.

Are you snoring? Like, what about when

someone tells you that you snore?

Are you more tired than usual or

do you feel like you will fall asleep

while driving? I know this isn't deep,

but these are some of the symptoms

that many people with sleep apnea have

Okay, doctor, what is next for me?

I will be fitted for a machine to be

my constant bedtime companion or some sort of salve

to help, to fit the number of times you stop breathing at night

It should be a cause for you to have a bit of a fright

~

Okay, I'll do it! Damnit! Shit!

I won't like it one bit!

I will wear the machine and add one more thing to my regimen

I have been using it for about eight or nine months now, and gentlemen

and ladies, I can say, I am not as sleepy, and my husband isn't complaining

of my snoring anymore. I have had to change masks with explaining

why I was having trouble, and just a few weeks ago, the home care

place, thought I may wish to talk to my doctor for an adjustment of the air.

And just yesterday, he did call on a face-to-face online visit to talk

about my sleep apnea. He looked back over the month, and I did not balk

as he told me I was doing great. Way closer to where they think

I need to be. And by adding just one more unit of air, it could sink

it into the right place that they would like me to be.

~

I then said, I thought it was just my age, why I am tiring again, you see,

and he let me know they never consider anything to be age at first

First, we rule out other things, so he would be running some labs

and making sure my CO2 is good, and some air gas, and how is my thirst?

Does thirst have to do with this? I realized - diabetes! Is he making jabs?

He said he didn't believe it is the sleep apnea, and not age, so what?

I told him I am allergic to smoke. And I thought maybe that, am I a nut?

There is smoke coming from Canada, and my voice changes, I get sick

to my stomach, and an occasional headache. And sometimes it is just ick!

Just face it, Denise, it is nothing but A G E, as my mother-in-law would say

You know the alternative, just keep on keeping on, and have a nice day!