My CPAP Machine

I consider myself to be a very lucky woman in my present-day elderly stage of living. In earlier years I had survived some serious ailments including heart disease and possibly lung cancer. I had given up a 40 year habit of inhaling cigarette smoke on a regular basis and almost immediately quit coughing.

The heart disease diagnosis came about following a stress test at Vanderhoof Hospital where the attending physician suggested I might be in line for an angiogram after consultation with a Prince George heart specialist. From there, it was a trip to Vancouver General Hospital where it was determined that I had two badly plugged arteries. While I watched the technology on a TV screen visible from my hospital cot, two stents were implanted in the affected arteries.

I had no idea how well the stent procedure would affect my lifestyle until a week later while attempting to climb a hill near my daughter’s home. What had previously been a 3-stops-to-rest climb up the steep grade was now a piece of cake. I zipped up the hill quite easily.

Recently I’ve experienced what’s known as Afib attacks. For me these irregular heartbeats were sometimes accompanied by palpitations that were actually painful. And my blood oxygen was sometimes lower than in the 90s where it was supposed to be. These attacks invariably occured during early morning hours. My sleep was being disturbed and my doctor was concerned about the possibility of a stroke.

A CPAP machine was suggested and since hooking up to the mask each night I have not experienced even one palpitating Afib attack and my blood oxygen levels are right up there where they’re supposed to be.

My profound thank you to everyone in the BC health profession industry.