When I first entered the medical field in the early 90's my greatest fear was that perhaps I didn't have enough information to prevent my patients from meeting an early death. However, when I first introduced patients to simple spirometry, I saw that making a connection and giving patients information they could identify with meant something.
After an accident, I learned something more about what our patients fear. When I woke up in an MRI machine with a towel partially covering my face and my arms crossed at my chest, the first thing that went through my mind was "I am dead and buried." Of course, panic set in and I was immediately ejected from the machine. Since that time I have had my own issues with Claustrophobia. Just the thought of small spaces and confining devices makes me have all of the associated ailments.
As a sleep technician, I began to understand the problems that many people had with anxiety related to interfaces and PAP machine use. When I was diagnosed with sleep apnea in 1996, I had many problems adjusting to interfaces that were on the market. None (at the time) were very friendly to a person who had difficulty at times tolerating sunglasses on her face. All of the things that I learned about how to cope with my anxiety were self taught.
My professional activities are guided by a deep personal sense of mission, driven by my belief that success of PAP therapy is directly related to education and information. Information is what allows us to self advocate and make well-informed decisions about health care ourselves. Health is not an end but a means to accomplishing everything else you want to do in life.
This blog is a place where I can continue to educate, to share information and personal experiences so you can help patients overcome the challenges and better understand the anxiety related to before, between and beyond PAP therapy.