So, let’s get the self-promotion out of the way. Prime Day is coming up this 15th and 16th. During that time my first book, “Exile’s Redemption” will be on sale for FREE! If you have not read it, or have someone you would like to introduce to the series at no risk to your wallet, mark your calendar. The actual sale starts on the 14th and goes through the 18th. In addition, the second book “Exile’s Gamble” will be on sale for $2.99 – that’s $2 off, for the same period. And as always (makes puppy dog eyes) reviews are always desired. You can post reviews for any of the books at the following links:
Enough of that. Let me tell you about sleep apnea. It’s a horrible, horrible thing. It’s bad enough always feeling hung over, but it can kill you. I don’t just mean because you fall asleep behind the wheel (which I have done). It can lead to heart failure. In fact, one of my favorite artist/writers, Drew Hayes, died from this very thing. They didn’t catch it on time and the damage to his heart was too great. The man was one of my great inspirations, even if all his girl elves looked like strippers.
And now I’ve been diagnosed with it. I don’t know about elsewhere but here in Central Oregon it takes about six months to get in to see about a sleep disorder. I got in and they agreed my symptoms warranted testing. They told me they’d send a home tester with me. I reached out my hands and said, “Gimme.” No, they couldn’t do that. Seems that despite the huge number of people with issues, they only have a total of four, count ’em, four testers. I had to wait another month to get one. Then I had to wait another two weeks to get the results – extreme sleep apnea. My oxygen levels were getting down into the mid-sixties anytime I managed to get into REM. So, I’m getting CPAP machine. Of course, they couldn’t give me one immediately. The bureaucracy involved is phenomenal. I’m supposed to get it on the 23rd of this month. That means I will have waited an additional six weeks since my diagnosis to get the treatment.
There is good news, however. When I got my diagnosis and was told I couldn’t have a machine right away, I asked if there was anything I could do to help myself in the meantime. Sleep upright, I was told. I’m kicking myself I did not think of that on my own, but oh, well. I am now sleeping propped up by a wedge pillow and two additional “normal” pillows. Overnight my sleep improved. I’m still expecting things to improve more once I’m on the CPAP, but since I’ve adjusted my sleep position I haven’t fallen asleep during the day once. I feel immensely better and my work output has gone way up. I may actually finish book IV before you’ve all forgotten the events of book III.
So hurrah!
Let this go as a friendly bit of advice. If your sleep sucks, get it checked out. Even if you don’t develop a heart condition or drive into a tree, chronic fatigue leads to some nasty depression. It sneaks up on you over time. You don’t even realize it. Just everything becomes a chore.
Take Care, all of you.
Lee Dunning 