More lovely June

Having our lilac in bloom makes me so happy. This is without a doubt the best time of the year. Of course, to take this photo, I had to annoy the chickadee parents, because I got too close to their nest in a hole in the dead aspen. Just now, looking out the window, I saw a parent go to the nest with food in its mouth. I wonder how many babies there are and how soon they will fledge.

We've had some breaks from the rain, but no really hot weather yet, for which I am grateful. It's cloudy today, with an 80% chance of rain, so I am going to do a few errands before it starts to pour.

We need:

1. More leaf bags from Home Depot! Except for last Friday and Monday (when the boys were at Driver Ed), Teen A and I have gone out every weekday and hacked away at the junipers, weeds, etc. For compost pickup this past Friday, we put out 10 bags, the compost bin itself, and two piles of logs tied up with twine. (And look at that lush lawn -- that's with no artificial watering.)

There's an endless amount still to be done, though. The next two weeks, we should be able to work on 10 of the days, and since we're now sometimes filling two bags a day, we might have 15-20 bags to put out on June 23rd. Even so. The junipers, weeds, trees, bushes, and everything else are growing like crazy. We can never keep up. Still, I think about past summers when I filled zero leaf bags. This has got to be better than that. We will keep trying. And I will buy more and more leaf bags.

2. More shorts from Target! Teen A has outgrown last year's shorts, so I've bought him a few pairs, but he should have a few more. I do their laundry every three days, so he needs at least four pairs, preferably five, and he has only three. (Teen B grew, too, but not as much, and he inherited some old shorts from Teen A.) I'll also get some cat food, chips, take a look at the Barbie aisle, etc.

OK, now I'm back. I bought 30 leaf bags at Home Depot, but only one pair of shorts at Target, because I couldn't find the kind Teen A likes. I did however buy him a new light gray t-shirt (he only wears gray and black) and I found a very attractive Barbie outfit that I hadn't seen before, so I got that. And 14 cans of cat food, so we have enough to last us through the time that the cat-sitters will be here. Which reminds me -- we really need to plan that trip. I planned one version of it a week or so ago, but I've reconsidered -- I think it should be shorter and simpler. No Idaho portion, just Wyoming. So I should start making hotel reservations.

***

It was kind of a mixed week, despite the joy of the lilacs. The twins finished Driver Ed and both managed to pass the test for their permits. This week on Wednesday we'll go get those permits and then I plan to start driving with them on Thursday.

It occurred to me that driving for half an hour every day all summer may be a problem for two reasons: (1) that's a lot of gas! and (2) we have Ozone Action Days constantly, when you're supposed to limit driving. I guess I'll play it by ear. I'll consider the gas costs to be part of the price of raising kids, but obeying Ozone Action Days just goes along with living in Colorado. If we have a stretch of smoggy weather, we'll stay off the roads.

Another thing that happened last week had to do with my sleep apnea problem. The CPAP machine arrived last Friday, I think it was, June 2nd. That was when I was still very sick, so I opened the box, but didn't do anything with the contents. On Sunday I started looking at the instructions. Immediately I noticed things that no one had mentioned before, such as the requirement that I use it with distilled water, and the need to clean the device and replace some of its parts regularly -- according to what your insurance company is willing to pay for, which may not be the same as what the manufacturer thinks is best. Huh? Why didn't anyone tell me about that?

The instructions were complicated, and for a while I thought I might have to wait until Rocket Boy comes (not that he reads instructions, but usually between the two of us, with me reading and him interpreting, we can figure things out). Or maybe the company that provided the CPAP could help me. But I was struck by one thing: the instructions told me that the first thing I should do was download the app to my cell phone. App? What app? Why does my cell phone have to be involved?

So I got online and did some research. And I discovered an interesting thing. Because so few people use their CPAP machines the way they're supposed to, insurance companies have decided that they will only pay if people demonstrate that they are using the device correctly. The way this is done is the CPAP machine transmits its data to that app on your cell phone and from there to your insurance company. Not your doctor. I could live with it if it was my doctor. But no. The insurance company. If you don't use it for enough hours/nights, or if your apnea numbers aren't good enough, you are said to be "not in compliance" and the insurance company stops paying.

OK.

I know that for many people, this is nothing. Many people in the world today do everything via apps on their phones. Many people have given up on the silly idea of "privacy," and are willing to turn over all information about everything they do to private companies, the government, whoever.

And me, with my personal blog where I confess all sorts of private stuff to the world (not that the world is listening, mostly, just a few people), wouldn't you think I'd be willing to do that too?

It turns out that I'm not. Because when I realized what was required of me to be able to use the CPAP machine, I saw red. I stewed about it for a day or two, and then realized that I couldn't do it. Conveniently, the company called to ask whether I'd gotten the CPAP and how I was doing with it, so I told them that I was not OK with the cell phone requirement and where could I return the machine? They said I could bring it to their office in Louisville, so that afternoon (Tuesday) I dropped it off. Then I emailed the person I'd been seeing at the Colorado Sleep Institute and told him I'd returned the machine and why. He said something like, "Yeah, that's an issue for some people," and I thought, if you know that, why didn't you tell me about it before I spent $179 on a nonrefundable deposit?

There is an alternative to the CPAP machine, and that's an appliance you wear in your mouth. But, it has to be specially made to fit your mouth, and so I can't get one now -- because I have braces. The Colorado Sleep Institute guy said he would ping me every 6 months to see if I've gotten my braces off yet and then we can proceed with the mouth device. Maybe. I read that it's not recommended for "morbidly obese" people, and technically I am (because I lost an inch in height).

But what do I do in the meantime? 

I'm not going to drop dead from sleep apnea -- I think that's clear. The sleep study showed mainly hypopnea, not apnea. But it's still really not a good thing. Being tired and grumpy, memory problems, trouble concentrating, dementia (eventually). Oh yeah, I can't just ignore this.

Here are some things I could do that might help (gathered from various articles):

1. Not drink alcohol in the evenings. I don't drink alcohol EVER, so that's not an issue. I am trying not to consume anything after dinner, except water.
   
2. Take an antihistamine to keep my nasal passages clear. I take a generic Claritin quite often in the summer, so I've started making it part of my daily pill routine.
3. Lose weight. Sigh.
   
4. Get more exercise. Teen B has started his summer online PE class, and on Friday evening we speed-walked a mile. He's supposed to walk at least 10 miles a week, so if I do that with him, that'll be something.
5. Sew a little pocket on the back of all my nightgowns and put a tennis ball in it when I go to bed, so that I'll be disinclined to lie on my back. I'm considering this one. I always wake up on my back, and it seems likely that I'm waking up because of sleep apnea/hypopnea, not because it's time to wake up. Maybe the tennis ball would help.
   
6. Get my braces off! I'm 100% sure that my sleep problem has gotten worse since I got my braces. Maybe when they come off, the problem will improve a little.
   

Anyway, this whole CPAP debacle has been upsetting. If I'm being honest, I didn't want to use the CPAP machine in the first place. I had agreed to do it, and I planned to be good about it, but I wasn't happy. Finding out about the water and the cleaning and the tube replacement and having to argue with my health insurance company about it... that just made it worse. And then the cell phone stuff, and sending data to my health insurance company every morning... that broke the camel's back. But the camel was already carrying a load. 

Oh well.

Happy June.