CPAP Machines The Torture Machines Which Save Your Life EVERY Night

October 7, 2025

#525

 Gentle reader,

I have been fortunate so far in that I do not suffer from sleep apnea. What IS Sleep Apnea, anyway?  

Wikipedia defines it thus: A "Sleep disorder characterized by repeated cessation and commencing of breathing that disrupts sleep.

Sleep apnea is a sleep-related breathing disorder in which repetitive pauses in breathing, periods of shallow breathing, or collapse of the upper airway during sleep results in poor ventilation and sleep disruption. Each pause in breathing can last for a few seconds to a few minutes and often occurs many times a night. A choking or snorting sound may occur as breathing resumes." 

So why am I writing about CPAP machines? Are we collecting those now? Hardly. 

No, at 4:00 AM, I awoke due to a full bladder, when I returned to bed, I noticed my wife was not breathing. I've observed this before, but this one was really lasting. I felt her face, then her chest. She was COLD to the touch! I could not feel her heart beating! "Oh, God, no!" I shouted. You see, during her sleep, she will often pull her nostril mask (seen below) down below her chin. Which causes the CPAP machine to struggle, since the life-saving clean air it was trying to pump into her lungs had no escape path. I will often awaken her by saying, "Nancy, you're snoring." I quickly put the mask back into her nose. Something I have also often done over the years. She still was not breathing! Just as I was about to start CPR, she snorted and started breathing. I shook her and said, "Nancy!" Just then, her wake-up alarm on her phone started going. "What?" she said. "You were dead! That's what!" I have never been so frightened in my life! She is my everything. 

All CPAP images found on the Internet. The type she uses.

Except for images of us, that is. 

This is Nancy, the love of my life, my soulmate and best friend. There is no one I would rather spend time with. Above is her Facebook profile photo.

This is what she looked like when we became friends in 1994. She was 98 pounds and five foot six inches tall. She continued to weigh that little well into her thirties. Over time, we both gained weight, as often happens. She has lost a couple inches of height.

A couple years later, now married. I was the first to start gaining weight.

About eight years ago, Nancy had to have her gall bladder removed with emergency surgery due to it's being full of gall stones. She had to go on the Healthy Heart Diet. She was 115 pounds then. I was 220 at six foot three. Being a supportive husband, I too went on the diet. I certainly needed to lose weight. The photo above is after I joined her on that diet. I was 160 pounds at the time of this photo being taken.

Fast forward a number of years and this is what I look like. I joined Holy Fitness at our church. It is for people fifty-five and older. I'm looking a little more muscular and weighed then and now, 170 pounds. I have lost an inch and a half of height due to aging.

Due to Nancy's weight, she was snoring a lot. She went though a sleep study and they found that she stopped breathing a number of times during the test. Above is the brand and type of CPAP machine she uses. It adds distilled warmed water to the air so that her nose does not dry out from the constant pressure of air being pumped through it. Note the type of face mask the model is wearing.

One of the many types of machines and masks made by various manufacturers. 

Two more brands and types of CPAP machines available from different makers.

A little digital work done to make air visible, above.

Most of the images I have chosen to show you cover the nose and leave the mouth alone, but there are many more types of larger masks which also cover the mouth and tubing routing made hoping to help the patient to not be uncomfortable while asleep and wearing their type of masks.

Frankly, I would not want to have to wear such contraptions on my head. Coincidentally, Nancy scuba dived before I knew her.

So, once she was truly alive and awake, I burst into tears because I truly thought that I had lost her! You see, we have a deal: We are both going to fall asleep many years from now and wake up walking into Heaven. 

Us at a wedding last year. She looks and feels much better these days.

I must say that rude awakening of her was also an eye opener for her. She immediately looked up, "How to keep your CPAP mask on all night." She had never seen me cry like that or being so scared. And scared I was. Thank the Lord that He was not ready for her yet.

Dear reader. If you are overweight and/or snore while you are sleeping, I prayerfully ask you to see your doctor and look into taking a sleep study and find a diet you can stick to if you are overweight. You do not want to leave your loved ones suddenly because you think that you don't need: A: to lose weight or B: To stop snoring. OR both.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. I truly needed to get the word out about what happened to me a mere five hours ago. Don't let it happen to you!

Scott Robb

October 7, 2025

#525