williebear
Joined: 14 Jul 2005
Posts: 17
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 Still moving on
Hi, everyone - I have not been back to the forum for a long time. Thanks for all your comments. I am amazed that so many people have read our story.
My daughter is now 17, almost 18, and continues to live with her apnea. She is not on CPAP or any other treatments. She is actually doing better now that we are not so focused on finding a "cure." She still snores, still sleeps poorly, still feels tired/low energy a lot of the time. Her immunity is often low and she catches colds and other bugs very easily. But she also has a much more cheerful attitude these days and is enjoying her senior year. She is not naturally a complaining person. so she chooses not to dwell on how tired she feels. This was a direct result of our last doctor visit, the one in which we were told there was nothing more that could be done. She just wants to live the best life she can, even though she is not over her problem with sleep.
The strongest emotion I have heard expressed was this summer when my husband and I had been snorkeling on a vacation and I said, Someday we should all go snorkeling together! and L almost screamed -- There is no way I will EVER put one of those things in my mouth! It's too much like a CPAP mask! -- So I know the sense of claustrophobia is still in her memory.
The Sonapillow is not a bad product; if L sleeps with it faithfully, she does think it helps her. But she often starts the night with it and ends up on another pillow, which she must be grabbing from beside her bed in her sleep.
What else can we do or say? I really applaud everyone on this forum who is continuing to struggle with the problems of sleep apnea. I sometimes wistfully wonder what things would be like now she could have adapted to the CPAP two years ago.
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