CPAP Scarf Pattern

Well, my CPAP scarf is finished, and I'm so happy with it I thought I should post the pattern I used.

CPAP Scarf

Yarn: 2 x 180 m 8 ply
- double stranded knitting, so 2 yarns with complementary colourways.
Needles - Size 7 / 8 - something pretty chunky.
Ribbon: 2.5m 3mm ribbon in matching or contrasting colour.
Or if you are feeling particularly insane - 2.5m of i-cord!

Hold two strands together and ...
CO: 17

Cuff:
RS: Purl
WS: Knit
RS: Purl
WS: Purl
RS: Knit
WS: Purl
RS: Purl
WS: Knit
RS: Purl

Main section:
WS: slip 1 purlwise, P2, YO, P2tog, P6, P2tog, YO, P3
RS: slip 1 knitwise, K15
Repeat until it is long enough (approx 1.8 metres)
end on a WS

Cuff:
RS: Purl
WS: Knit
RS: Purl
WS: Purl
RS: Knit
WS: Purl
RS: Purl
WS: Knit
RS: Purl

You now have a very long scarf with a row of eyelet holes down the edge.
Wrap it lengthwise around the CPAP hose and thread the ribbon through the holes to join it. Knot the ribbon back on itself at each end to hold.

Use more ribbon at the cuffs to hold it firmly on, or elastic bands / scrunchies etc.
I just used the tail at each end to tie it back to itself - but I'm inherently lazy!

Detail:


Hanging around:


No copyright reserved - feel free it pass it on, use it, abuse it, even send people back here to look at it....

It's reduced my humidifier heat down by 2 notches and using lots less water too.
It's also much nicer to snuggle up to than a plastic tube. :)

Tonight's the Night!

Woo Hoo!
The two weeks of hell is over, today I get my CPAP machine.
I just checked with the pharmacy where I can rent before I buy, and they are open until 9pm, so that won't be a problem, even if the Sleep Doc is running really late, as opposed to just standard late...
And there is a gluten-free pizza place - "Town & Country Pizza" just around the corner from the pharmacy, so I think I'll have to try them for dinner.

And you may not have noticed :), but I'm typing much faster too!
Yep - I'm officially two-handed again. The Wrist Doc is amazed at how fast I have progressed back towards full movement and strength, but then I mentioned the knitting and he nodded sagely. Spinning the wrist (the movement you would do if swinging a cat by its tail..) still hurts a little - and this is what I need for knitting. But I think it is good enough now to start the my self-funded knitting therapy - once I'm not so tired anymore that I'd drop stitches and get frustrated - so that'll be tomorrow!
Amazing how it has all come together at once!

In house news, all the valuations got done and the bank agrees we *can* actually afford the new house :) I fear there are still many, many signatures needed, however, before we actually get to the moving in part...

That's all for now, move along... :)

Medical Issues as a Dr Who episode

It appears I've started something....

OK - the CPAP mask doesn't quite look like this - but if you are trying to give me nightmares.....



And in case you're interested in the stats - Severity of my sleep apnea - 31 episodes an hour, stopping breathing for up to 32 seconds, with oxygen levels falling to 74%. And they confirmed I snore - Dah!

Three Nights in Heaven, Two Weeks in Hell

So I got to keep the CPAP machine for 3 nights. During this time it sat beside my bed like a reverse vacuum cleaner and I slept with a mask like a fighter pilot's. Meanwhile the machine varied its pressure up and down as it thought I needed, and recorded everything, so that the nice people at the Sleep Unit can analyse it and recommend the ideal pressure for me, not to mention getting a baseline.

I had to hand it back yesterday. I considered running off with it, but that just wouldn't have been right. So now I wait for 2 weeks until I see the Doc again and get a prescription for my own machine.
Today the tiredness kicked in ten-fold. Now that I know what I can be like after just a few days (and not even used to the machine yet), it was hard to function today and so depressing realising just how tired I was, and there wasn't anything I could do about it....

Roll on the fortnight.

O sleep! O gentle sleep!

Yes, sleep. Something I hope to experience in its full joy soon. Apparently I haven't before, well at least not for a long, long time, if ever.

Just over 3 months ago I started the journey to see if there was yet another reason underlying my constant fatigue. There's been diabetes - now conquered, there's been coeliac disease - now conquered, and now, we have confirmation, there is sleep apnea.

Anyone who has slept in the same suburb as me, knows that I am a loud and chronic snorer. Campers have wanted my company as I can frighten wild animals away. It's been the butt of many a joke and I am sure housemates have rested easier in those brief periods when I stopped snoring. The problem is, those times when I stop snoring, I've also stopped breathing... but there is a solution. Come tomorrow, I am starting on a 3 night test of CPAP machines. These machines blow a constant air pressure down your nose/mouth so that the air passages can't collapse when sleeping. The tests should show what pressure I need. And then I get to have my very own machine! And hopefully, some blissful, restful, wonderful (and no snoring!) sleep!

Woo Hoo!