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Article: View from behind the mask: a patient's perspective on what sleep medicine professionals are doing well and what they could do better.(guest editorial)
- Article from:
- Sleep Review
- Article date:
- May 1, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Ascend Media. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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It is always fun to be the bearer of good news. I have been asked to write, from a patient's perspective, about what sleep medicine is doing well and where it could improve.
Being a sleep disordered breathing patient is rarely easy. I was once a CPAP failure. When I was diagnosed with severe and profound mixed sleep apnea in 1989, I had a bad attitude about compliance. My doctor finally had to tell me that my choices were to get compliant, have a tracheotomy, or prepare to die--and die sooner than later.
It took this wake-up call to make me change my attitude, fight through the difficulties, and reach 100% compliance with a bilevel device. Successfully ...