Hello everyone! Happy to be a new member of this forum, and am looking forward to participating in the discussions, and sharing encouragement, knowledge and experiences with you all :-)
Sorry in advance for the longish post... will likely be the longest one I ever put up ;-)
I am a 57 year old male, and hail from waaaay up in Northern Canada... or the Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada to be more accurate.
And just to get this out of the way....
- Do we live in igloos?... Nope.
- Is it cold up here?... Right now..Yup.
- Are there really polar bears?... Yup.. but thank goodness not where I am!
- Do we get Northern Lights?.... Oh boy, do we ever! Some of the best Aurora-watching is right where I live.
And speaking of that....I live in a beautiful little town called Fort Smith (and actually you good folks in the US have a Fort Smith too... in Arkansas). We are located in the very southern part of the NWT... right on the 60th parallel. The wild and free Slave River flows by us, and we are the gateway to Wood Buffalo National Park (largest park in Canada... and second largest in the World). Wood Buffalo NP is home to the largest free-ranging Bison (buffalo) herd in the world, and it also protects the nesting grounds of the endangered Whooping Crane. I work for Parks Canada in Wildland Fire Management in Wood Buffalo NP.... best job in the world!
I was first diagnosed with OSA some 12 years ago, and have been using CPAP on and off for most of that time. I confess I was not always diligent and compliant, and even stopped using it for more than a year... a couple of times. Each time I would find my symptoms, general health and quality of life sliding back into sleep-deprived hell... and then I would start using my machine again... and start feeling much better. Then after feeling better for a while... I would start taking "vacations" from my therapy... until I eventually pretty much stopped using it....again.
And this is where I find myself today.. after a "vacation" for the last couple of years, and the inevitable (and more severe) back-slide back into feeling super crappy and exhausted all the time, and having increased general health issues (I also suffer from hypertension).... and to ice the cake, my good 'ol Remstar machine (first and last CPAP I ever had... for 12 years!) finally packed it in, so I couldn't go back on the hose even if I wanted to :-(
I had to recently go through another sleep study and pretty much restart from scratch... but a couple of days ago I received my new Auto PAP machine (Resmed Airsense 10 Auto, with nasal mask) and have enjoyed two glorious nights of actual sleep! And for the first time... ever... since I have been using CPAP... I slept over 7 hrs. without interruption... for both nights! All I can say is WOW! Why didn't I do this years ago! The difference in the technology now is astounding to say the least.
Anyhow... I am very happy to say I am back on the hose.... and I look forward to the support and exchange of ideas, advice, and sharing of experiences with everyone on this forum.
Cheers from Northern Canada!
-Gord Seymour-
@GordNWT
