State of the sleep, May 4

Blue water washes in small waves up onto brown sea rocks.
Blue water washes in small waves up onto brown sea rocks.
Image description: Blue water washes in small waves up onto brown sea rocks.

When I developed sleep apnea suddenly in 2020 during a series of major dental work, I had no idea that getting diagnosis and treatment would become a many-months-long saga. I’m returning to, and sharing, some updates I wrote for friends and family along the way to help break down the stigma around sleep apnea and CPAP devices.

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State of the sleep: Gradually improving, which is great!

I’m at about 6/10 zombie, which is a vast improvement. The brain fog and deep fatigue and mood swings are still present, but less so.

I’m not capable of real client work again yet, which is frustrating. It’s nice to feel a little more like myself though.

The nasal pillow mask, which goes over the nose only, is working okay so far. I wouldn’t call my sleep good, but it’ll get there.

Paradoxically, as my sleep improves a bit and my numbers in the MyAir app look really good (for mask seal and such), I’m starting to wake up a lot at the sheer discomfort of wearing something on my face all night.

I’ve also had an issue from the beginning where occasionally the pressure on the machine itself will go wild (I guess?) and start blowing air out all around the edges of the mask, no matter how tightly the mask is fitted, forcing me to turn the machine off and on again. 🤷‍♀️

The World’s Most Useless Employee over at the medical supply company clearly didn’t take any action on getting me an appointment with their respiratory therapist, which I’ll need to do before officially switching masks, so I need to call today and arrange it myself.

Hi there! I'm Lindley. I create artwork that celebrates the unique beauty of bodies that fall outside conventional "beauty" standards at Body Liberation Photography. I'm also the creator of Body Liberation Stock and the Body Love Shop, a curated central resource for body-friendly artwork and products. Find all my work here at bodyliberationphotos.com.