My

REMstar Plus C-Flex CPAP is experiencing difficulties.  I phoned
cpap.com and was pleased when the customer service
rep asked me to explain my problem and she would quickly help me fix it.  I
relayed to her the error message I had been receiving; “Error 24”  “Ok” she
replied, “I’ll send you the return info right away”.

  “Return!?!” I asked, “You mean I have to send it back?
How long will it take to get it back?”  She told me it could be a month.  A
MONTH?!?

____________________________________________

For more than two years I struggled with chronic fatigue
and pain and what can only be described as a general fogginess.  Doctor after
doctor threw out various diagnoses.  Perhaps it was Lupus, Arthritis,

Fibromyalgia or maybe Multiple Sclerosis.  Maybe I had a heart condition, or
maybe it was my thyroid.  I went through a myriad of tests, poked prodded,
photographed and crammed in a giant tube (MRI) Once it was suggested that
perhaps I was depressed, well of course I was, I was seriously ill and no one
could tell me why. 

I felt as if I was under a cloud of fatigue, it was so
thick I could barely see the rest of the world.  I breathed it deep into my body
and it’s dark heaviness settled in as a heavy muck. That muck weighed me down
causing me to sink into a deep hole of pain.   At the bottom of the pit I would
claw at the side grasping for something to hold on to, something to use to pull
my self out.  Sometimes it would take days and sometimes months before I could
pull myself out (or actually
God would lift me
out).  Even when I could get out of the hole of pain I still remained
weighted under the fog of the fatigue.  Occasionally I would have a period of
somewhat normal functioning.   In fact some days I would feel perfectly fine,
functioning as if nothing was wrong, the next morning I would jump out of bed
only to find that my legs had decided not to work that day.  There were times
when I could barely use my hands; brushing my daughters hair might as well be a
hike up Mount Everest. 

Constantly tired and in pain I often would struggle to
complete simple tasks.  Even showering sometimes seemed impossible.   Bracing
myself against the shower wall I struggled to open the shampoo bottle then
strained to squeeze the small amount into the palm of my hand.  I concentrated
on raising my hands to my head and managed to slowly wash my hair.  After
washing my hair I would move on to the rest of my body then would end up back at
the beginning having forgotten whether I had washed my hair yet or not.  Unable
to remember I would go through the tedious steps again just in case.

 I forgot many things, simple things I’d been doing for
years.  In fact once last year I stood staring blankly at a pound of hamburger,
I had told the kids we were having
Mozzarella Meatballs and for the life of me I
couldn’t remember how to make them.  I’d made them at least 100 times over the
past 6 years and had never used a recipe.  No big deal, right?   I stared for
about 4 minutes at the ground beef.  I knew that I knew that I knew how to make
them and I couldn’t think of what to do with that lump of beef.  Finally I sat
down on the kitchen floor and cried.  Kaleb assured me that it was ok, we could
have something else for dinner.  He didn’t understand why I was crying.  Neither
did I.

Finally a dear Dr. friend sent me for a sleep study as a
last resort.  They told me I’ve a form of
hypopnea,
which supposedly in turn causes fibromyalgia.  Or does the Fibromyalgia cause
the hypopnea?  Either way it doesn’t matter, I was prescribed a CPAP machine. 
With the first night of treatment I felt better than I had in years.  I woke up
the next morning and found myself pushing aside the heavy fog, I could see more
clearly, think more rationally.  A few days later and I had climbed right out of
that hole.  My hands working, my chest pains were gone.  I have felt fabulous
since.  I thank God daily for the answers to my questions.  I am thankful that I
am able to be medication free, no more harsh prescriptions with all their side
affects.  I thank God for my CPAP, and for my lovely Grandmother who purchased
it for me. 

So, you now see
why I was unsettled at the thought of being separated from my Remstar Plus.  I
packed it up today, including a cute picture of Joshua holding it and a nice
note in hopes that they send it back soon.

So now that I’ve typed this, I’m
ready to finally pack up my laptop as well.  If I can send off my nightly
source of oxygen I can send off my daily source of information and communication
as well.  Besides, I haven’t had much computer time lately anyway. . .

Here is the picture I sent of Joshua as well as one of the nice mailman who charged me over $7 for insurance on the package.