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Permalink Reply by Mike on August 17, 2009 at 11:20pm

That is a serious predicament. On the one hand, you're concerned about your 6 year old if the unthinkable happens. On the other, it's a remote possibility and you don't want to be a nag. I don't know what I would do in your situation -- actually, maybe I do -- I personally would probably be a buzz kill/ party pooper -- but I'm not saying that's the right thing to do.

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Permalink Reply by RockRpsgt on August 18, 2009 at 12:49am

I would let them go. use the opportunity to teach your child some emergency protocol. You can't make your husband use his machine. i might try backing off for a little while. Concentrate on your own treatment. hopefully your husband will notice your good results.

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Permalink Reply by bonesigh on August 18, 2009 at 9:27am

Mike, Rock, I feel both ways. One minute I think "No way, not letting her stay overnight!" then "For gosh sakes, let her have some fun!' I actually have not bothered my husband about his machine for ages, gave up. He's sick of hearing about anything concerning OSA. The only place I can talk about it is on this forum. Thanks! Hopefully I've gotten my therapy on the right track now with my new pressure. I felt better for a couple of days and then had a couple of lousy days. Guess I'm going to have to switch back to the full face mask. I had no problem with my new swift light to begin with, now my nose is stuffy.

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Permalink Reply by susan mccord on August 18, 2009 at 10:11am

Hi, Bonesigh--As a mom, and a grandma, I gotta say this is an INCREDIBLY difficult situation for anyone to be in. On one hand you don't want to interfere with quality of life for your husband and for your child. BUT if he's not taking care of himself, to me, it's the same as a diabetic who refuses to take Rx insulin--the possibility that something disastrous could happen is clearly there. How old is your child? Is she aware of OSA and the concerns re: no treatment? Is your husband being realistic in his assumption that he'll be fine with only a little child there? Is the campsite isolated or are other people there to support your daughter if...? Do you guys know that there are battery-operated batteries for situations where there's no electricity available? My therapist uses a boat battery for his CPAP!!, but there are special batteries made for that. Any of us who are parents can relate to your deep concern. I'd be nuts!!, due to concern for my child being put in a potentially disastrous situation with her daddy. Maybe a solution MIGHT be for you to consider the option of buying a battery for yourself so you could stay with them. I know you said it was hard for you to sleep out there--I totally understand that--I had the same problem when I took my kids camping years ago--but the welfare of your child is, I'm sure, a priority in your mind. There's no easy answer to this. I just felt a need to put my 2 cents worth into the mix. I absolutely understand your concern.....

Susan McCord



bonesigh said:

Mike, Rock, I feel both ways. One minute I think "No way, not letting her stay overnight!" then "For gosh sakes, let her have some fun!' I actually have not bothered my husband about his machine for ages, gave up. He's sick of hearing about anything concerning OSA. The only place I can talk about it is on this forum. Thanks! Hopefully I've gotten my therapy on the right track now with my new pressure. I felt better for a couple of days and then had a couple of lousy days. Guess I'm going to have to switch back to the full face mask. I had no problem with my new swift light to begin with, now my nose is stuffy.

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Permalink Reply by bonesigh on August 19, 2009 at 1:42pm

Well Susan it was a difficult decision but I went with, chill out and let 'em be. Our little girl is 6 years old and she knows we both have OSA and need to wear a machine but she does not understand that if we do not comply we could possibly die. I don't think I want to tell her, she's too young.

I know there are batteries for the paps but I've yet to get around to getting one, or 2. Even if he had one he wouldn't use it for camping, maybe for a power outage he would. There were other people around in the camping area and we taught her to use his cell phone in case of an emergency. Turned out it stormed like heck last night, thunder and lightning and pouring, just after I left at 10pm. It was an experience for her she won't soon forget. They didn't get much sleep, she was not afraid it was just noisy! I couldn't sleep knowing they were out there. Told my husband today that there will be no more "tent" camping for me. Too much work for one measly night! He didn't say anything. Next time I want a camper!

It was fun swimming around in the river, like bath water, and our little one caught fish and water skeeters, water bugs and a toad. We played games and I played my ukulele till late in the night. I got lot's of good pictures and enjoyed everything but the worry and the work!

Thanks for the input.

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Permalink Reply by Saz RPSGT on August 19, 2009 at 2:13pm

Geez...that really sucks.

If you were to watch an EKG during a polysomnograph of someone with untreated sleep apnea, it's awful. When a patients heart should be relaxed and beating in the 60-70 range (or lower), it is instead over 100 and often throwing off premature ventricular contractions. It's like they're running a marathon when they should be resting. Not very healthy for the heart.

Good luck!

Jason

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Permalink Reply by wallace j smith jr on August 19, 2009 at 2:29pm

bone sigh maybe you should talk to a dr about the studffy nose situation and maybe you can find the right nasal spray that might work for you and congrats for the stickin to finding your anwers

bonesigh said:

Mike, Rock, I feel both ways. One minute I think "No way, not letting her stay overnight!" then "For gosh sakes, let her have some fun!' I actually have not bothered my husband about his machine for ages, gave up. He's sick of hearing about anything concerning OSA. The only place I can talk about it is on this forum. Thanks! Hopefully I've gotten my therapy on the right track now with my new pressure. I felt better for a couple of days and then had a couple of lousy days. Guess I'm going to have to switch back to the full face mask. I had no problem with my new swift light to begin with, now my nose is stuffy.

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Permalink Reply by wallace j smith jr on August 19, 2009 at 2:32pm

mabe at some point he'll realize that his health is somthing he needs to worry about but as another person said dont nag and show him how much better you fell wit the proper rest..unfortunately you cannot force his manliness to do it, sad to say but if you carefully explain about watchin his six year old daughter grow up...and being there when she gets married maybe that will snap him awake..no pun intended

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Permalink Reply by susan mccord on August 19, 2009 at 5:04pm

Hey girl!! I've learned my lesson the hard way re: stuffy/runny noses! I was miserable for weeks with side effects related to this. The answer is HUMIDIFICATION, and lots of it. I have mine up on 5 now and am finally getting some solid relief. It's been a battle. I've been told both--turn it up and turn it down but don't turn it off. TURN IT UP!!! It's one of the best things I've done on this less-than-enjoyable path we're all on.....do you have an understanding about what's happening when you get those symptoms? If not, write me back and I'll fill you in. Don't want to assume you don't already know.

Susan McCord

bonesigh said:

Mike, Rock, I feel both ways. One minute I think "No way, not letting her stay overnight!" then "For gosh sakes, let her have some fun!' I actually have not bothered my husband about his machine for ages, gave up. He's sick of hearing about anything concerning OSA. The only place I can talk about it is on this forum. Thanks! Hopefully I've gotten my therapy on the right track now with my new pressure. I felt better for a couple of days and then had a couple of lousy days. Guess I'm going to have to switch back to the full face mask. I had no problem with my new swift light to begin with, now my nose is stuffy.

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Permalink Reply by susan mccord on August 19, 2009 at 5:17pm

I'm SO glad your daughter had fun!! These are incredibly difficult decisions in life and as parents we all have to make them. No one can really tell you what to do with your own family.....'Ya know, hearing about that noisy thunderstorm that kept them mostly awake...Makes me wonder if whatever-higher-power-you-believe-in sent that storm to keep him awake and to keep her safe.....that's what I'D like to think anyway, if I were in a situation like yours.....just a thought.....

I don't know how much those batteries cost, but I bet someone on here does. Mike, probably, or Rock or one of the other professionals--they're a wealth of information just sitting around waiting to be asked!! My therapist is on CPAP, has been for years, and he uses a boat battery when he's out and about like that!!! But there are special ones just for our equipment--that's what I'm going to get as soon as I feel ready to go out camping/canoeing again which is one of my most favorite things to do!! Not ready yet though. I just remembered, Mike has some connection with an apnea supply company--he could probably point you in the right direction. Again, just a thought. I've seen them on the internet in my apnea travels in cyberspace--don't remember seeing $$ though. You might check there too and see what you find. There are different kinds...

Susan McCord :-)



bonesigh said:

Well Susan it was a difficult decision but I went with, chill out and let 'em be. Our little girl is 6 years old and she knows we both have OSA and need to wear a machine but she does not understand that if we do not comply we could possibly die. I don't think I want to tell her, she's too young.

I know there are batteries for the paps but I've yet to get around to getting one, or 2. Even if he had one he wouldn't use it for camping, maybe for a power outage he would. There were other people around in the camping area and we taught her to use his cell phone in case of an emergency. Turned out it stormed like heck last night, thunder and lightning and pouring, just after I left at 10pm. It was an experience for her she won't soon forget. They didn't get much sleep, she was not afraid it was just noisy! I couldn't sleep knowing they were out there. Told my husband today that there will be no more "tent" camping for me. Too much work for one measly night! He didn't say anything. Next time I want a camper!

It was fun swimming around in the river, like bath water, and our little one caught fish and water skeeters, water bugs and a toad. We played games and I played my ukulele till late in the night. I got lot's of good pictures and enjoyed everything but the worry and the work!

Thanks for the input.

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Permalink Reply by susan mccord on August 19, 2009 at 5:23pm

AND, another thing you could do, if you want the true reality of what happens to patients with severe apnea, is watch Mike's video on SG titled "Hard to Watch". Man, that was turning point for me, in a # of ways.........and it IS very hard to watch. Made me cry, but it was a real eye-opener.....

Susan McCord

J. Sazama RPSGT said:

Geez...that really sucks.

If you were to watch an EKG during a polysomnograph of someone with untreated sleep apnea, it's awful. When a patients heart should be relaxed and beating in the 60-70 range (or lower), it is instead over 100 and often throwing off premature ventricular contractions. It's like they're running a marathon when they should be resting. Not very healthy for the heart.

Good luck!

Jason

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Permalink Reply by bonesigh on August 19, 2009 at 7:36pm

I think the stuffy nose is due to the change in mask. I had 2 days on that mask and I thought "Wow this is great, I actually feel a little better". I usually wear a Mirage Quattro full face mask due to mouth breathing. I think I have, after 2 years of this, trained my brain to keep my mouth shut. Now if I could only keep it shut when someone is talking to me, I'm always interrupting because I'll forget what I wanted to say if I wait. LOL (Apnea related I'm sure).

So things were going fine with the nose only mask and then...the plugged nose. I have not had problems for some time now because of using Flonase nose spray and using a Netti pot each night, well, most nights anyway. My guess is my nose is not used to having ALL that air in a jet stream up the nose. I have switched back to the full face but, now it's bothering me because the other one was soooo comfortable! I'd like to use the nose only mask but how can I get used to the mask when my nose plugs up and I'm forced to open my mouth. I don't know, sometimes it's so hard. I saw light at the end of the tunnel and now I'm in the dark again.

I've always used my humidifier and it was kind of funny, but not, on my first night with the nasal mask when I turned over in the wee hours of the morning I got a rude awakening with an unintended nasal rinse! Yuck! I'd never had a problem with condensation before. I made a hose snuggy for the foot long tube attached to this mask and solved that problem.

About camping, your comment about the storm is a nice way to think about it. Thank goodness it's over and it was only for one night! I hope you are able to get back to camping and canoeing soon Susan. Good luck.

PS...Wallace and J. Thanks for the concern. I don't think he wants to understand just how much danger he puts himself in. I need to talk to him about life insurance. Hmmm, I wonder if having OSA makes it harder to obtain life insurance.

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