I have taken off the mask and I can now sleep unencumbered once again!

A doctor advised me that I no longer have sleep apnea and don’t need the machine that has forced air into my nostrils over the last several years just to keep me breathing.

I had seen the doctor at the VA Hospital of Philadelphia after complaining about phlegm and mucus that had developed a few weeks ago. A physicians’ assistant provided me with a new five-foot hose and filters for the machine that pumps air into me at night. I apologized to her for not following orders. I hadn’t washed the hose or cleaned it out for a number of years and changed the filter only two or three times in seven years.

Hey, I’m a Vietnam veteran and I put up worth a lot of crap while sleeping. You ever sleep with your clothes on the jungle floor not knowing if “Charlie” was creeping up on you to end your breathing forever?

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CPAP is short for “continuous positive airway pressure” that pushes air into the hose to keep the airway open. If you snore, or if you’ve been told that you make gasping or choking sounds in your sleep, then it’s likely you have obstructive sleep apnea. You’re not alone, according to the VA doctor. Sleep apnea is an extremely common condition affecting millions of people.

If you have obstructive sleep apnea, something is actually blocking your ability to take in the air you need to breathe. This happens when your airway relaxes during sleep. The muscles of the mouth or throat collapse, blocking the airway and preventing oxygen from getting into your lungs.

You can die from it.

That’s what happened to Reggie White, the great Philadelphia Eagles defensive end. He died at age 43 after suffering a fatal cardiac arrhythmia, which was attributed to sarcoidosis, a tissue inflammation disorder, and the sleep apnea that plagued the ordained Evangelical minister, known with affection as “the minister of defense.”

What happened to me was that I lost nearly 50 pounds nearly a year ago. My son had made macaroni and cheese and left it out all night. I ate it and got food poisoning and ended up in the emergency room of the VA Hospital.

I also took part in a study for an “Apple Smart I-Watch.” A research group offered me $650 to wear the watch for a year while technicians viewed every movement that the device recorded while on my wrist. I learned I could measure my daily activities and I got incentivized to exercise every day walking two miles a day. I began to lose weight, lots of weight.

The doctor told me that I overcame the sleep apnea after losing all that weight.

I owe it all to my son Nicholas, that son of a B for whom the Universe used to cure me!