Sleep Disorders are all the Rage

Somewhere around 12 years old I started snoring. I'm fairly positive that I can link it to the sudden and explosive "blossoming" of my girlie parts which made it impossible to sleep on my stomach any longer. Since then no one has ever noticed that I stop breathing while I sleep, and I've never had any sensations of not being able to breath outside of the occasional asthma attack. I do sleep on an incline, but that's to alleviate reflux and chronic pain in and around my now non existent gall bladder. I also have the occasional bout of insomnia, but that's all about stress and my inability to adjust to being a night sleeper. 15+ years working graveyard and swing can have that effect.

Why am I going on about my sleep issues? I'm going on about them because, yet again, my doctors don't believe that I know diddly squat about my own body. I'm being forced to participate in a sleep study because if they can add sleap apnea to my list of issues, it's another co morbidity to add to the list in determining my eligibility for surgery. Great! except that I already have more than enough extenuating circumstances that will guarantee a quick and painless pre approval.

I don't want to do a sleep study, and not just because I don't want to deal with the stress of the actual test, but because I worked in the insurance industry and I rarely ever saw a billing for a sleep study that didn't also include an order for a CPAP. Things become trendy in the medical world, and when CPAP became trendy, the slightest snort during a sleep study was all that was needed to push the machine on the patient for their own safety.

Don't get me wrong, I know that some people really do need CPAP and I really want them to have it. I'm sure I don't need it, I'm sure I won't be able to sleep with it on, and I'm sure that if I have to use it I will have to sleep in a separate bedroom because it will make sleeping more difficult for Keith. I'm also sure that I cannot afford it, even at 20% of approved cost.

 In the end, this thing that they think will facilitate a surefire quick approval for surgery, will actually turn my already surefire quick approval into a denial when I refuse to get the machine. My primary care doctor does have some kind of personal issues going on at the moment, and is being a bit scatter brained (which better stop after she deals with whatever the issues are). I'm hoping that the pulmonary doc will be more open minded to my position and not try and shove me on the CPAP bandwagon.

We shall see, until then I'll be snoring happily LOL.