May 13, 2019, The Morning After

Hubby uses a Cpap machine.  Diagnosed years ago during a sleep study where he stopped breathing so many times in the first hour the study was stopped.  He slept there with a machine.  With few exceptions he has slept with a Cpap for almost 20 years.  He is on his second or third machine.  Recently he has been worrying about this one filter that needed to be replaced.  He had received the new filter but decided to protect the filter by adding additional filter material. 

Last night was a restless night.  When Hubby's mouth is open the air from the Cpap causes his lips to flutter.  The sound is sort of like a quiet motor boat.  Sometimes it is just a spewing sound.  With a reduced pressure his throat can close up and he does not breathe.  In the years before he was on the machine he stopped breathing a lot.  The body reacts by gasping for breath.  He aspirated saliva many times.  Once so badly he took several minutes for him to fully recover and breathe freely.  It was scary.  Of course the other side effect of sleep apnea is that annoying, rattle the windows snoring.

Apparently the additional filter was enough of an impediment that he just was not getting enough air.  Not being totally awake he just tossed and turned.  Covers on, covers off, flip on one side and back on the other.  Once I just stared at his back to make sure he was still breathing.  That is pretty common for me actually.  Checking to make sure he is still okay.  He finally gave up and just got out of bed and sat in his lounge chair.  He has another machine by that chair that he can use to make sure his naps are restful.  Tonight he will remove the extra material.  Hopefully it will be a better night's rest for all the occupants of the bed.

Life is good.  I do mean Life, living, sharing and loving.  Especially with this guy.