It has now been over three weeks since I have been on the CPAP Machine, and I have seen little progress. Sleep still comes difficult for me and it is hard getting used to the mask.
I went to see Dr. Munoz on Monday, and this time I was handed off to a Nurse Practicioner, who told me to start exercising, and to come back in four months, when they would follow up on me, and order a new mask for me. However, she said absolutely nothing about the Alpha Waves of an appointment with the Neurologist.
So here I sit at 1:30 AM, typing this, and hoping that I can get on the Antidepressants soon to kill the Alpha Waves...
Friday, April 29, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
Well, Here Goes Nothing, part 4.
I thought that I was going to be done with this by now, but...
I FINALLY got the results of my sleep study today. There were some things that I expected to see, but there were some surprises. First of all, my nasal congestion problem may render the CPAP ineffective, but Dr. Munoz failed to mention that to me on March 21. Secondly, there was no Stage 3 or 4 sleep time found in my study. Normally it takes about one hour for a normal adult to cycle into all four types of sleep, but here this did not happen.And the third was that when I went to sleep, I stayed still, even in REM Sleep.
But in spite of this, I am still haunted by a question. Has this REALLY been going on for eight years now? Have I been trapped between being awake and sleeping now for that long, or even longer. If this is true, then a lot of things in my life that have taken place have been affected by this. First, there is my work. Because of the nature of my work at MDS, did I really give them my best? And was I really able to? Is this sleep apnea a thing that God has allowed to keep me from getting tha perfect job for me-I am beggining to see that it could be, and it is for my good if it is, because falling asleep could not only be detrimental to me, the people that I work for and the people that I work with. And it also had its impact on my driving, as I said before in a previous blog, and and I have fallen asleep behind the wheel. (I could only imagine what would have happened if I had fallen asleep behing the wheel on the Banfield Expressway-I-84-in Portland at rush hour).
And then there is the matter of Seminary, speaking of Portland. I am incredibly grateful for the privilege of being able to go to my Beloved Multnomah, and I will be eternally grateful for all of them for the incredible healing that God did in my life as a result of my being there. But now I must ask myself, what would of happened if I had enrolled for a MA in Counselling in the Class of 2014 or 2015 instead of graduating with my MAPS in the class of 2009? It would have made things a lot easier for me, to have all of my mental faqculties and a full head of steam. (I cannot remember all of the times that I came back from my Internship at CityTeam and either sat in the Seminary Lounge and fell asleep into a dead sleep in a chair or even went to the Cafeteria and fell aslle in my food).
Now please do not misunderstand. the two years are two of the best and happiest years of my life. What do I say About the people that I came to not only love, but madly love, while I was there, people like Erin Fowler, Chelsea Prescott, Christina Chan (Who may not just have saved my leg, but also my life in 2007), Krista Apland Alsop, Laura Mettler, Katie Harrington, Christine Larson, Kelly Jo Prewett, David Yngfors and Rob Morrison, among many others, who are as my own sons and daughters? And what do I say about my dear and esteemed Eric and Sierra Carlson, Jon and Cassie Neil, Ross and Rachel Halbach, Andreas Lunden, Braxton Alsop, Ronaldo and Luz Sison, Bruce and Cathy Gilbert, Siman and Abby Flynn, Josh Reshey, Josh Van Vlack, Matthew Eddy, Alex and Faith Mutugubys, Eva and Santiago Pena, Rachel Starr, Heather Minton, Beth Mabry, Richard Fox, Jonathan Lohn (Who drove me and Christina around in 2007), Steve Lyons and Eddie McLean, Danika Wise Hill, My Mentors, Rob Hill and Liz Myers-who pulled me through that hellish first semester, JoAnne Billison anhd MaryEllen (ME) Armbruster? And my Professors, including My Beloved Connie Baker and My Beloved Mary Aguilera, Carley Wecks, Barbara Feil, Paul Louis Metzger and Steven Kim, as well as Paul Johnson, Tom Schialve, Tim Robinett, and many others? And then the staff, Dr. Dan Lockwood, Joel and Amber Kersey, Dean Karen Fancher, Dr. Rob Redman, Gaylen Smith, Cyndi Wantz, Stan Campbell, Hilda Munk in the Bookstore, Ted McLean, and my Beloved Nurse Jana Poling? And the drivers on TriMet(tm) who put up with me, Mike McCoy and the others at CityTeam, Tim Osborne, Morris Dirks, Jason Simmons, Jason Tarka, Kendra Shaw and many others at MosaicPortland, as well as the cashiers at the Gateway Fred Meyer(tm), and the guys at VooDoo Donughnuts and Stumptown and Random Order Coffee...? The list goes on and I could easily expend two to three hundred pages on all of the hundreds of people and places that have made my beloved Portland so dear to my heart, and I am a very wealthy man because of it.
Any way, I have now been on the CPAP for fifteen days, and I still continue to walk in the twilight, and I do not know when the sun will rise or set, and I can sleep again. Will you walk with me on my journey, and with the rest of the trials that I face? I could use the company.
I FINALLY got the results of my sleep study today. There were some things that I expected to see, but there were some surprises. First of all, my nasal congestion problem may render the CPAP ineffective, but Dr. Munoz failed to mention that to me on March 21. Secondly, there was no Stage 3 or 4 sleep time found in my study. Normally it takes about one hour for a normal adult to cycle into all four types of sleep, but here this did not happen.And the third was that when I went to sleep, I stayed still, even in REM Sleep.
But in spite of this, I am still haunted by a question. Has this REALLY been going on for eight years now? Have I been trapped between being awake and sleeping now for that long, or even longer. If this is true, then a lot of things in my life that have taken place have been affected by this. First, there is my work. Because of the nature of my work at MDS, did I really give them my best? And was I really able to? Is this sleep apnea a thing that God has allowed to keep me from getting tha perfect job for me-I am beggining to see that it could be, and it is for my good if it is, because falling asleep could not only be detrimental to me, the people that I work for and the people that I work with. And it also had its impact on my driving, as I said before in a previous blog, and and I have fallen asleep behind the wheel. (I could only imagine what would have happened if I had fallen asleep behing the wheel on the Banfield Expressway-I-84-in Portland at rush hour).
And then there is the matter of Seminary, speaking of Portland. I am incredibly grateful for the privilege of being able to go to my Beloved Multnomah, and I will be eternally grateful for all of them for the incredible healing that God did in my life as a result of my being there. But now I must ask myself, what would of happened if I had enrolled for a MA in Counselling in the Class of 2014 or 2015 instead of graduating with my MAPS in the class of 2009? It would have made things a lot easier for me, to have all of my mental faqculties and a full head of steam. (I cannot remember all of the times that I came back from my Internship at CityTeam and either sat in the Seminary Lounge and fell asleep into a dead sleep in a chair or even went to the Cafeteria and fell aslle in my food).
Now please do not misunderstand. the two years are two of the best and happiest years of my life. What do I say About the people that I came to not only love, but madly love, while I was there, people like Erin Fowler, Chelsea Prescott, Christina Chan (Who may not just have saved my leg, but also my life in 2007), Krista Apland Alsop, Laura Mettler, Katie Harrington, Christine Larson, Kelly Jo Prewett, David Yngfors and Rob Morrison, among many others, who are as my own sons and daughters? And what do I say about my dear and esteemed Eric and Sierra Carlson, Jon and Cassie Neil, Ross and Rachel Halbach, Andreas Lunden, Braxton Alsop, Ronaldo and Luz Sison, Bruce and Cathy Gilbert, Siman and Abby Flynn, Josh Reshey, Josh Van Vlack, Matthew Eddy, Alex and Faith Mutugubys, Eva and Santiago Pena, Rachel Starr, Heather Minton, Beth Mabry, Richard Fox, Jonathan Lohn (Who drove me and Christina around in 2007), Steve Lyons and Eddie McLean, Danika Wise Hill, My Mentors, Rob Hill and Liz Myers-who pulled me through that hellish first semester, JoAnne Billison anhd MaryEllen (ME) Armbruster? And my Professors, including My Beloved Connie Baker and My Beloved Mary Aguilera, Carley Wecks, Barbara Feil, Paul Louis Metzger and Steven Kim, as well as Paul Johnson, Tom Schialve, Tim Robinett, and many others? And then the staff, Dr. Dan Lockwood, Joel and Amber Kersey, Dean Karen Fancher, Dr. Rob Redman, Gaylen Smith, Cyndi Wantz, Stan Campbell, Hilda Munk in the Bookstore, Ted McLean, and my Beloved Nurse Jana Poling? And the drivers on TriMet(tm) who put up with me, Mike McCoy and the others at CityTeam, Tim Osborne, Morris Dirks, Jason Simmons, Jason Tarka, Kendra Shaw and many others at MosaicPortland, as well as the cashiers at the Gateway Fred Meyer(tm), and the guys at VooDoo Donughnuts and Stumptown and Random Order Coffee...? The list goes on and I could easily expend two to three hundred pages on all of the hundreds of people and places that have made my beloved Portland so dear to my heart, and I am a very wealthy man because of it.
Any way, I have now been on the CPAP for fifteen days, and I still continue to walk in the twilight, and I do not know when the sun will rise or set, and I can sleep again. Will you walk with me on my journey, and with the rest of the trials that I face? I could use the company.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Well, Here Goes Nothing, Part 3.
As we discussed before, the results from Kent were not good. He told me that I would definitely need to be put on a CPAP Machine to help me breathe by forcing air into my lungs. He told me that he would send a copy of thge sleep study to Dr. Munoz before March 14, and to expect to have it for my appointment.
My Mom and I were very happy. We now had something to work with and there was hope for a light at the end of the tunnel. We began to pray that I would get approved for the CPAP and the antidepressants (MAO inhibitors) which would free me from this sleep apnea. It was quite simple-get thew CPAP and the MAO inhibitors, and your life would change for the better. There would be side effects, but hopefully the benefit gained by the MAOis would outweigh the risks.
I was now falling asleep four or five times a day as well as sleeping at night. By the Grace of God, I had not gotten drowsy behind the wheel since December 26, but there were other problems that could be associated with the sleep apnea, including soreness in my joints and muscles due to extreme O2 deprivation, an inability to walk more than one or two blocks at a time, depression and a ravenous appetite, all of which could be associated with sleep apnea (Jeff Seidel, Machine Stops Snores of Sleep Apnea (newspaper article). Monterey, CA, Monterey County Herald (newspaper), Thursday, March 24, 2011 and discussions with medical personnel). And on March 4, someone who knows me well enough to know told me that she has seen signs of this in my sleep patterns since 2003. This means it it has had a major impact on my life and has affected all of my life activities, including my work at MDS and my Seminary training, both of which may have been made easier if I had bgeen able to treat this earlier.
So on March 21, I went to see Dr. Munoz, hoping and praying that he would do everything that Kent told him to do. He came in and definitely told me that I would need a CPAP machine. However, he refused to give me the MAO inhibitors, saying that he would have to send me to a Neurologist before he would do that. Send me to a neurologist?!!! What did he want, to send me to every doctor in Bakersfield?!!! He told me that he wanted to have a follow-up appointment one week from today (April 25).
Irritated, I started home and waited for the CPAP. Three weeks later, I was given notice that the CPAP machine was approved, and that i could get it that week, but no neurologist. I went back and began to sleep again (it was noon). Two days later, I was sitting in a Respiratory Therapist's office and receiving instructions for how to operate my new CPAP machine.
I tried it for the first time on April 7, and I did not sleep well. It had been eleven nights since I started with the CPAP machine, the quality of my sleep has yet to improve and I am beginning to get a little bit frustrated with the mask and I may need to get a new one with a better fit; but that needs to be seen.
Next time I will talk about the impact of this sleep apnea on my life.
My Mom and I were very happy. We now had something to work with and there was hope for a light at the end of the tunnel. We began to pray that I would get approved for the CPAP and the antidepressants (MAO inhibitors) which would free me from this sleep apnea. It was quite simple-get thew CPAP and the MAO inhibitors, and your life would change for the better. There would be side effects, but hopefully the benefit gained by the MAOis would outweigh the risks.
I was now falling asleep four or five times a day as well as sleeping at night. By the Grace of God, I had not gotten drowsy behind the wheel since December 26, but there were other problems that could be associated with the sleep apnea, including soreness in my joints and muscles due to extreme O2 deprivation, an inability to walk more than one or two blocks at a time, depression and a ravenous appetite, all of which could be associated with sleep apnea (Jeff Seidel, Machine Stops Snores of Sleep Apnea (newspaper article). Monterey, CA, Monterey County Herald (newspaper), Thursday, March 24, 2011 and discussions with medical personnel). And on March 4, someone who knows me well enough to know told me that she has seen signs of this in my sleep patterns since 2003. This means it it has had a major impact on my life and has affected all of my life activities, including my work at MDS and my Seminary training, both of which may have been made easier if I had bgeen able to treat this earlier.
So on March 21, I went to see Dr. Munoz, hoping and praying that he would do everything that Kent told him to do. He came in and definitely told me that I would need a CPAP machine. However, he refused to give me the MAO inhibitors, saying that he would have to send me to a Neurologist before he would do that. Send me to a neurologist?!!! What did he want, to send me to every doctor in Bakersfield?!!! He told me that he wanted to have a follow-up appointment one week from today (April 25).
Irritated, I started home and waited for the CPAP. Three weeks later, I was given notice that the CPAP machine was approved, and that i could get it that week, but no neurologist. I went back and began to sleep again (it was noon). Two days later, I was sitting in a Respiratory Therapist's office and receiving instructions for how to operate my new CPAP machine.
I tried it for the first time on April 7, and I did not sleep well. It had been eleven nights since I started with the CPAP machine, the quality of my sleep has yet to improve and I am beginning to get a little bit frustrated with the mask and I may need to get a new one with a better fit; but that needs to be seen.
Next time I will talk about the impact of this sleep apnea on my life.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Well, here goes nothing, part 2.
Thank you for your kind support of my first blog.
However, I was asked to define some terms, and one of them I will do right now. Cellulitis is an infection of the skin, subcutaneous tissues or muscle tissues of the body, especially those which have been broken down by various means. It can be caused by a variety of sources, including fungi, bacteria or a virus that settles into a part of the body, or it may be a combination of more than one of these at one time, and often the only way that it can be treated is by massive doses of antibiotics. So as I said earlier, this is not an uncommon thing for me, and could happen to me at any time.
With that said...
A full sleep study was ordered for me for late February. As it turned out, the Study was done by Kent Cravens, an old friend of mine, who was one of the first people who taught me how to counsel before I went to Seminary. He did several studies, including an EKG, an Ultrasound (if I remember correctly), at least two brain wave tests, at least two oxygen (O2) intake tests and and some other studies. As a result, I was wired and probed with around 34 different wires and probes and I was rather uncomfortable. The first part of the study was done without oxygen, and the second part was done with it.
I went through my prayer list during the first part of the study, but could not really fall asleep. About three and a half hours later, Kent put the O2 on me, but it wasn't doing any good, because he said that I had congestion in my nose. He changed the mask to one that fit on my mouth, but I still wasn't falling asleep, so I began to work on a problem, which was to name every highway that intersected with Highway 99 and Interstate 5 between Los Angeles and Olympia, WA, but that didn't work either, or so I thought...
About two and a half hours later, Kent woke me up and began to take the the probes off of me and told me to get dressed. As he did so, he began to tell me the results of the study. First of all, Dr. Munoz's (the respiratory doctor) diagnosis was correct-I did have severe Sleep Apnbea, which was caused by my having an extremely large oral cavity-in other words I had a big mouth (so what else is new?). And as such, it has a capacity for collapsing when I am trying to sleep, thus blocking my airway and causing me to totally lose my O2 intake indefinitely, and do other neat tricks, such as swallowing my tongue. As a result of this, other things have happened, including a further inability to digest food, mimicry of symptoms of other diseases, including Diabetes, and an enlarged left ventricle on my heart to attempt to increase the O2 flow to my body, and my heart was ruled as being in perfect shape as late as 2006. He said that I did fall asleep, and that I want through all five stages of normal sleep, including REM (dream) sleep. However, there was one more thing that Kent found that REALLY concerned me. He found a massive intrusion of Alpha Waves in my brain while I was sleeping, which is never supposed to happen.(to be continued).
However, I was asked to define some terms, and one of them I will do right now. Cellulitis is an infection of the skin, subcutaneous tissues or muscle tissues of the body, especially those which have been broken down by various means. It can be caused by a variety of sources, including fungi, bacteria or a virus that settles into a part of the body, or it may be a combination of more than one of these at one time, and often the only way that it can be treated is by massive doses of antibiotics. So as I said earlier, this is not an uncommon thing for me, and could happen to me at any time.
With that said...
A full sleep study was ordered for me for late February. As it turned out, the Study was done by Kent Cravens, an old friend of mine, who was one of the first people who taught me how to counsel before I went to Seminary. He did several studies, including an EKG, an Ultrasound (if I remember correctly), at least two brain wave tests, at least two oxygen (O2) intake tests and and some other studies. As a result, I was wired and probed with around 34 different wires and probes and I was rather uncomfortable. The first part of the study was done without oxygen, and the second part was done with it.
I went through my prayer list during the first part of the study, but could not really fall asleep. About three and a half hours later, Kent put the O2 on me, but it wasn't doing any good, because he said that I had congestion in my nose. He changed the mask to one that fit on my mouth, but I still wasn't falling asleep, so I began to work on a problem, which was to name every highway that intersected with Highway 99 and Interstate 5 between Los Angeles and Olympia, WA, but that didn't work either, or so I thought...
About two and a half hours later, Kent woke me up and began to take the the probes off of me and told me to get dressed. As he did so, he began to tell me the results of the study. First of all, Dr. Munoz's (the respiratory doctor) diagnosis was correct-I did have severe Sleep Apnbea, which was caused by my having an extremely large oral cavity-in other words I had a big mouth (so what else is new?). And as such, it has a capacity for collapsing when I am trying to sleep, thus blocking my airway and causing me to totally lose my O2 intake indefinitely, and do other neat tricks, such as swallowing my tongue. As a result of this, other things have happened, including a further inability to digest food, mimicry of symptoms of other diseases, including Diabetes, and an enlarged left ventricle on my heart to attempt to increase the O2 flow to my body, and my heart was ruled as being in perfect shape as late as 2006. He said that I did fall asleep, and that I want through all five stages of normal sleep, including REM (dream) sleep. However, there was one more thing that Kent found that REALLY concerned me. He found a massive intrusion of Alpha Waves in my brain while I was sleeping, which is never supposed to happen.(to be continued).
Well, here goes nothing, part 1.
I must beg your forgiveness, but I am new at this and I still don't know quite what I am doing here. I have been on a journey that I have travelled alone for maybe eight years now, and I am tired of travelling it. and I hopw thatr you will travel it weith me.
On July 7, 2010, I wound up in the hospital Emergency Room with a severe case of Fungal Cellulitis. I have my ideas of where it came from, but I will discuss this at another time. I wound ou being admitted tio the Hospital with full isolation precautions and the chance of acquiring the MRSA Virus, which had around ten cases on the floor below me. I was in there for six days, during which time they fed me with enough IV fuid to turn me into a fish as well as two different antibiotics. Over time the Doctors were able to stabilize the Cellulitis, but not control it, so they sent me home with two more antibiotics, and thosr ran their course for two weeks.
Now this kind of thing has happened to me before, including a case of double Viral/Bacteral Callulitis which occured when I was in Portland two weeks before Finals of my first semester in 2007, from which I still bear the scars today. What was unusual was the circumstances in which it was treated. I am normally trated by Family Practice/General Practice Interns at Kern Medical Center or one of their clinics. However this time I was treated by a member of the Internal Medicine staff. I was in a car accident in 2006 which caused massive skin, tissue and muscle damage to my right leg, and my doctors at that time told me that the scarring would never heal, and I accepted this with no problem (it was a miracle that the bone was not crushed and/or I did not lode my leg). But now this doctor wanted to find out why the scarring had not healed, and he was detemined to do it, by hook or by crook.
Four weeks later, I went for an outpatient follow-up visit with this doctor and he had his Physician's Assistant check me for oxygen (O2) intake. It was good, but he had concerns about my nocturnal O2 intake. So he handed me over to the Pulmonary Clinic and the head of the Pulmonary Medicine Department, Dr. Munoz. He ran a couple of tests and then ordered me to have a nocturnal O2 test in October, whereupon, they immediately lost the results. The test was retaken in late November, and an appointment was set up for me in early January for me to learn the results.
In January, I went for my appointment, and Dr, Munoz had the results of the study. He found that over a six-hour period, I had lost O2 intake an average of seventeen times an hour and five of those times the was no O2 intake at all for at least three minutes at a time. He had me listed as having Sleep Apnea, and he ordered further test for me between January 3 and March 14. (to be continued).
On July 7, 2010, I wound up in the hospital Emergency Room with a severe case of Fungal Cellulitis. I have my ideas of where it came from, but I will discuss this at another time. I wound ou being admitted tio the Hospital with full isolation precautions and the chance of acquiring the MRSA Virus, which had around ten cases on the floor below me. I was in there for six days, during which time they fed me with enough IV fuid to turn me into a fish as well as two different antibiotics. Over time the Doctors were able to stabilize the Cellulitis, but not control it, so they sent me home with two more antibiotics, and thosr ran their course for two weeks.
Now this kind of thing has happened to me before, including a case of double Viral/Bacteral Callulitis which occured when I was in Portland two weeks before Finals of my first semester in 2007, from which I still bear the scars today. What was unusual was the circumstances in which it was treated. I am normally trated by Family Practice/General Practice Interns at Kern Medical Center or one of their clinics. However this time I was treated by a member of the Internal Medicine staff. I was in a car accident in 2006 which caused massive skin, tissue and muscle damage to my right leg, and my doctors at that time told me that the scarring would never heal, and I accepted this with no problem (it was a miracle that the bone was not crushed and/or I did not lode my leg). But now this doctor wanted to find out why the scarring had not healed, and he was detemined to do it, by hook or by crook.
Four weeks later, I went for an outpatient follow-up visit with this doctor and he had his Physician's Assistant check me for oxygen (O2) intake. It was good, but he had concerns about my nocturnal O2 intake. So he handed me over to the Pulmonary Clinic and the head of the Pulmonary Medicine Department, Dr. Munoz. He ran a couple of tests and then ordered me to have a nocturnal O2 test in October, whereupon, they immediately lost the results. The test was retaken in late November, and an appointment was set up for me in early January for me to learn the results.
In January, I went for my appointment, and Dr, Munoz had the results of the study. He found that over a six-hour period, I had lost O2 intake an average of seventeen times an hour and five of those times the was no O2 intake at all for at least three minutes at a time. He had me listed as having Sleep Apnea, and he ordered further test for me between January 3 and March 14. (to be continued).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)