Went to AWAKE Meeting tonight

[Sparkle]

Hi everyone ~

I went to the AWAKE Support group meeting tonight. It started at 6:30. There was cheese and crackers, fruit, vegetables and dip, beverages, and baked goods for everyone. Around the perimeter of the room there were four different companies that had tables set up with various models of machines, masks, etc.

At 7pm there was a nurse practitioner introduced that gave a phenomenal presentation on Sleep Apnea and Diabetes. She talked about your body benefits from good quality sleep and how those benefits stave off Diabetes and also the things that happen to your body when you are not getting sleep and how those things can contribute to Diabetes. She discussed the overall relationship between Sleep apnea and Diabetes. She said that for people who were on CPAP but didn't yet have diabetes but whose insulin/leptides/etc. (a whole bunch of hormones are involved in sleep) numbers were being impacted the numbers reversed to the good after only 2 nights of CPAP treatment. Literally hormone production (or nonproduction) as the case may be can turn around for the good almost immediately.

I wish she had hard copies of her presentation. I would have loved to share it with you.

The turnout was much higher than I expected - there were at least fifty people there. The moderator invited the CPAP reps to the podium if they were interested and ResMed got up there and talked about the A10 Auto Sense (my machine) -- many people there were in awe of it - I was so happy it was my machine - I think there was some CPAP envy in the room tonight lol

The meeting was ended with a raffle - about a dozen prizes were given out. Someone won a heated hose, another person a mask, and can you believe guess what I won ....... mask liners. How crazy is that!?!

All in all, I'm glad I went - I had to cancel out of another more "fun" night but it was definitely worth it. Next meeting is in May.

Sweet Dreams everyone

[zonk]

Support teams are really helpful ... especially for newbies who need some helps and advice about masks choices/fittings, equipment cleaning, mouth breathing, leaks, nasal discomfort, CPAPs what to buy and what to avoid, etc ... and of course the secret handshake and the software to track one therapy and the know-how to optimize it

This board meet all the above, I,m not knocking awake groups but they have limitation as they don't subscribe to patient empowerment and no ResMed rep going to get up and tell you what buttons to push to access the clinical menu

[DariaVader]

and can you believe guess what I won ....... mask liners. How crazy is that!?!

hahahaha that is great!

[Sparkle]

Support teams are really helpful ... especially for newbies who need some helps and advice about masks choices/fittings, equipment cleaning, mouth breathing, leaks, nasal discomfort, CPAPs what to buy and what to avoid, etc ... and of course the secret handshake and the software to track one therapy and the know-how to optimize it

This board meet all the above, I,m not knocking awake groups but they have limitation as they don't subscribe to patient empowerment and no ResMed rep going to get up and tell you what buttons to push to access the clinical menu

I went because I am information hungry right now. This diagnosis has me swirling a bit - all kinds of thoughts running through my head, and yes, though I'm feeling better and would not even entertain the thought of sleeping without the CPAP for one single instant (and this after only six weeks of therapy) I somehow cannot wrap my head around the fact that this condition is only treated and not cured.

Last night I met a man whose dr ordered another sleep test for him because it was time for a new machine. Five years had elapsed since his first sleep study. He had used the machine faithfully every day over the course of those five years. The results of his new sleep study were nearly identical to his original one five years earlier. I guess I shouldn't be surprised given what I know from this board but it is discouraging.

Besides they have really great raffle prizes

[truetopath]

Congrats on the win!

[Sparkle]

Congrats on the win!

Thank you! So excited to have won something I can use

[trish6hundred]

Hi Sparkle,
Sounds like you had a good time last night and it's great that you won something you could actually use.
Keep up the good work with your CPAP therapy.

[player]

The only hope for a cure (other than painful, not very successful surgery) that I have heard about is weight loss. Some people that lose weight lose their apnea as well.

[Mr. Van Winkle]

Support teams are really helpful ... especially for newbies who need some helps and advice about masks choices/fittings, equipment cleaning, mouth breathing, leaks, nasal discomfort, CPAPs what to buy and what to avoid, etc ... and of course the secret handshake and the software to track one therapy and the know-how to optimize it

This board meet all the above, I,m not knocking awake groups but they have limitation as they don't subscribe to patient empowerment and no ResMed rep going to get up and tell you what buttons to push to access the clinical menu

I went because I am information hungry right now. This diagnosis has me swirling a bit - all kinds of thoughts running through my head, and yes, though I'm feeling better and would not even entertain the thought of sleeping without the CPAP for one single instant (and this after only six weeks of therapy) I somehow cannot wrap my head around the fact that this condition is only treated and not cured.

Last night I met a man whose dr ordered another sleep test for him because it was time for a new machine. Five years had elapsed since his first sleep study. He had used the machine faithfully every day over the course of those five years. The results of his new sleep study were nearly identical to his original one five years earlier. I guess I shouldn't be surprised given what I know from this board but it is discouraging.

Besides they have really great raffle prizes

I hope your rash is improving , how nice to win something you could use.
That gentleman you spoke with must not check any of his own data, does he even know of Sleepyhead or this fine board?
Too bad to go 5 years with no results .
Thanks for the report from your Awake meeting , I'm guessing you didn't eat the treats Good job on your loss!

Mr. Van Winkle

[Sparkle]

[

I hope your rash is improving , how nice to win something you could use.
That gentleman you spoke with must not check any of his own data, does he even know of Sleepyhead or this fine board?
Too bad to go 5 years with no results .
Thanks for the report from your Awake meeting , I'm guessing you didn't eat the treats Good job on your loss!

Mr. Van Winkle

[/quote]

Yes - thank you, it is Mr. V.W - another dearly beloved CPAP friend

The gentleman that told me his story struck me, as did very many people who attended last night, as not being internet/computer savvy. You should have seen the reaction of the room when the ResMed rep was describing how the A10 had the capability of communicating to the supplier. I mentioned this board to a couple of people but no one had heard of it.

Now, maybe, just maybe, I can do a talk at one of the meetings and enlighten all of them to this board's existence