A Night With-out Sleep
Written by Rod Petersen
Owner of

All too often we get complacent about the things we use every day.  We assume the car will start, water will pour from the kitchen faucet, and the sun will rise again tomorrow morning.  For the most part, the things in life we take for granted rarely let us down.  We have established safeguards to help us out in such unwanted situations.  For example, we have a spare tire in our car, just in case. That spare tire may never be used, and it is no mistake that one comes with every new vehicle purchased.  Being stranded alone, in the middle of the night with a flat tire can be a horrific experience.  Imagine being in that situation and discovering that the spare was missing.  The uncomfortable pit deep in the abdomen will be followed by panic, stress, fear, and anger.  Finding the solution to that problem could take hours, days or weeks.  The time spent stranded mimics being incarcerated in a prison cell; there is no easy way out of this situation.

The same thing happens to a sleep apnea patient when suddenly their CPAP machine stops working.  (CPAP stands for Continuous Positive Air Pressure, a device used to open the airway during sleep) …or the discovery that the mask had been devoured by the new four-legged house guest.  These are not things that only happen to “the other guy”.  These are real situations that happen daily.  For some reason, it seems to happen late on a Friday, one that is followed by a long holiday weekend.  A sleepless four to six day sentence has just been handed down from an angry warden.  Sadly, in the event of a mechanical failure, it often takes three or four weeks to have the machine repaired by the manufacturer.

For those people (like me) that are absolutely dependent on this device to be able to breathe during sleep, having a back up is a lot more than just a “good idea”, it is an absolute necessity.  Having been in that terrible situation on more than one occasion, I have learned to have a back up machine and mask stowed away in the trunk of my car, and to have a back up system at home.  Luckily for me, I also have a store with stacks CPAP machines and masks sitting there for me to use if needed.   For everyone else, the sleep they knew is gone, followed by gasping, choking, headaches, irritability, and missed work.  That important presentation you were going to give tomorrow has just blown up in your face, or at least that is what your face will look like after hours of laying there tossing and turning while trying to choke down another breath.

All too often we hear the desperation in the voices from people who call in and wonder how fast they can remedy this problem.  “What, you don’t have a loaner machine near me here in Rock Springs Wyoming?”  “What am I going to do?”  “How long will it take to get this fixed?”  These are questions we hear on a regular basis.  The only viable solution to this problem is to be prepared, in advance.  By this we do not mean you should get one later, it means you should get one right away.  Many who are stranded, were “about” to get a back up, or knew they needed one.  It is imperative that everyone who relies on a medical device have some kind of back up plan.  For the diabetic, having an extra glucose monitor on hand, even an old one, would be like finding a winning lottery ticket if they were having an attack and needed to know how much insulin to inject.

Finding a backup CPAP system can be as easy as going online, ordering, and having it arrive in a few days right to your front door.  You could get a used one out of your local newspaper, but it would probably be at a different setting than yours, and is probably full of cat hair, nasal mucous, and who knows what else.  We don’t spend a lot of time imagining what is on other people’s night stands…  Too often, the reason the CPAP machine is being sold is because it has problems, making noise, or is about to fail.  We are still trying to find out why people describe them as only used a few nights, when in reality the machine has thousands of hours on it.  How many times has it been tossed around the airport?  How long will it last?  What is that smell?  These are all important questions to think about.

Some people think they don’t have the means to get a new machine.  Affordability is no longer such an issue.  Most people do not know that the price of a CPAP machine has fallen drastically in the last ten years.  Many people expect to pay $1200 for a new one, since that is what they paid for the first one they got back in the late ‘80s.  Even five years ago, the cost was over $500 for a basic CPAP.  Great news folks; the price for a brand new machine is only about $200.  Such websites as have some of the lowest prices in the world for sleep apnea equipment.   With new machines for around $200, and new nasal mask systems starting at only $40, put forth the effort to get a new system.  Even if a person buys the cheapest system available, it only takes one dead machine to appreciate the investment.   How much is sleep worth to you?  How do you feel if you stay up late one night?  How do you feel the next day?  Think about not sleeping for days, or even weeks… What would you pay to avoid losing three or four weeks of sleep?    Sleep is the foundation of good health and the way a person lives and feels.  Spending a couple of hundred dollars for a back up CPAP machine is an investment in a healthy lifestyle, probably just as important as eating right, exercising, and getting regular check-ups.  Take that old mask, clean it, and put it away for day when you will appreciate going to bed, instead of admitting yourself into the emergency room just to use their ventilator to get some sleep…

Express CPAP Supply, located in Corona, California is dedicated to providing people with affordable CPAP systems so that everyone can afford to treat their sleep apnea.

Express CPAP Supply
1471 Pomona Road – H
Corona, CA 92882

951-663-2120