The sleep tech was grim-faced. “You completely stop breathing 58 times an hour - that’s the second worst case of apnea I’ve seen in 20 years.” She was telling me this in a Saratoga Springs sleep clinic where, of a night three years ago, I was attached to more wires and gizmos than I thought existed on Earth. “I’m putting you on a CPAP machine immediately. We don’t need you expiring in here tonight.” For an expert on sleep studies, she wasn’t much in the bedside manner department, but never mind. I went to Pulmonologist Dr Hung Dinh Nguyen (pronounced “WIN”) because I thought I was dying. I couldn’t keep awake at work, I struggled to stay awake while driving and I knew something was terribly - perhaps fatally - wrong. The machine fixed me up instantly, but that's not the story.
© 2024 John Oliver
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