Does Blogging Kill You?

There appeared a recent story in the New York Times by Matt Ritchel telling about how the stress of blogging killed three people. Perhaps you read his article about how The stress of blogging can kill you. Apparently a couple of guys Russell and Marc Orchant who were bloggers died and another guy who also blogged had a heart attack.

And so because of these three people who happened coincidentally to be bloggers are not faring so well physically, then .... blogging kills. I can't think of anything more far fetched, and ... well... dumb.

I'll just bet I could find three airline pilots that had some health issues recently due to "the stress of flying." There are plenty of doctors who drop dead of a heart attack. Does that mean that we should be aware of "the stress of practicing medicine?"

Writing a blog can be stressful. Well at least for some bloggers I guess. But I can easily think of a lot of jobs that are much more stressful. How about policemen? They joke to each other about how working as a policeman sure beats having a job. But believe me, it is nothing but stress out there. Yes, they get paid quite a bit of money, but... is constantly worrying about being shot not a great stress? I should think so. Ditto with the people who work in the armed forces. Isn't seeing your buddies whom you love and work with get blown to smithereens by a bomb pretty stressful?

I used to work. Work IS stress. There are certain jobs I just don't think I would like to do. Cleaning out sewer systems. Shoveling horse and cow manure. Being a stunt double and falling down stairs or jumping out of tall buildings.

Having a dumb boss is very stressful. Not only do you and he both know that he doesn't have a clue (well, maybe he really doesn't know) but if you don't do what he tells you to do no matter how ridiculous or stupid, he can fire you. And even if you do exactly what he tells you to, and it turns out to be the wrong thing to do... you get fired. Now that is stress.

How about getting up in front of large crowds and speaking? Isn't that stressful? Some people seem to think so.

Rush hour traffic can be a stressor. That idiot ahead of you who is cutting traffic and almost hits you. That sure stresses me out.

Listen folks, I do not think you can avoid stress. My little old crazy lady I was taking care of was stressed out because the neighbors were "Bothering" her. I told her, "Eve (not her real name) how could the neighbors possibly be bothering you? You have not been outside of this house in weeks. Why the neighbors don't even know you are here. They are ignoring you completely!!"

"THAT is how they are getting to me. By ignoring me."

People who work in all types of jobs are dying everyday. But that does not mean that their jobs kill them. Unless of course they are Marines, or Army or Highway Patrol or something. But I really cannot blame blogging for killing anybody. Come on folks... blogging???

Hey, I suppose there are some people addicted to computers who stay up so long online that they eventually wither away and die. I suppose it happens. But... can you blame computing for their death? I don't think so.

Folks, I guess if you do anything long enough... (maybe 80 or 90 years) it can kill you. But if you do NOTHING for 80 or 90 years, you are going to die anyway. So let us get real here. Blogging is not going to kill you. And reading blogs won't either. Or at least I hope it doesn't.

If reading this blog kills you, please write and tell me about it.

Let us get real,

David A. Youngs

CPAP arrives changing this man's health

I awoke extremely exausted and tired. I had been without a CPAP machine ever since leaving the sleep disorder clinic -- and the nurse had been right. Now that I had once experienced the vigor and return to young man's health that occured using the CPAP, I, in effect, did "hit the wall" -- just as the nurse had predicted. But now I knew what I needed: (a CPAP machine) -- and that one was "one its way." I could hardly wait.

Now it was March 13, only 5 days since the test at the clinic -- and it was my wife's 50th birthday. Unbeknownst to me, she had been praying that the CPAP machine would arrive before or on her birthday. When I had left the sleep disorder clinic, the nurse cautioned me that it could take a week and half or two weeks before I would get my own machine. The medical doctors had to review the tests and approve me. She was pretty certain I would be approved, but wanted me to know that she wasn't the one to make that decision.

But I did not have to wait any longer. The telephone rang and it was the medical supply store. I had been approved and did I want to come on down and pick up my CPAP machine? Oh did I! I got dressed so fast it would make your head spin, and rushed off the get my machine.

At the store I met another fine lady who explained to me the use of my CPAP machine. This particular unit is NOT the final one I will be using. Oh, it is extremely similar, but this one has a memory chip to enable somebody to determine how effective this machine has really been to allieviate my sleep apnea. In the first minute she happened to mention that my order for the CPAP had been expedited because during the test over at the sleep disorder clinic, I had stopped breathing over 90 times an hour during the intial part of the sleep test without the CPAP assistance. Wow!! That is more than once a minute. It is amazing that I ever woke up again. No wonder I could go to bed a just a little tired and wake up just totally exhausted. My sleep had been literally wearing me out!!

I had been told at the sleep clinic that my machine would differ from theirs because their unit could be remotely controlled for how much air it pumps, and it could be switched from CPAP to IPAP (intermittent positive air pressure.) The nurse explained that during the sleep test they gradually increased the pressure until I didn't stop breathing any more. Enough pressure is required to keep the throat open.

Well, apparently for me that is a setting of 11. Eleven what I am not sure -- maybe 11 liters of air per minute. And I don't know how high the machine could ultimately go, but I somehow got the impression that it might top out at 20 or 25. I would like a machine where I could fiddle with the settings, but of course everyone fiddled with the settings when the machines were adjustable. And it was usually to their detriment. So now the machines are set at the store and the end user can't change the airflow settings. I am stuck with a setting of 11.

Any way, my very own CPAP machine consists of two parts: the humidifier and the air pump. The humidifier is important to insure that my lungs and breathing passages won't dry out during the night. Every night, before I turn the CPAP machine on, it is important to fill up the humidifier's water chamber. The instructor told me if I used tap water, I would have to clean the whole chamber about once a week to get rid of mineral deposits. On the other hand, if I use bottled water there wouldn't be any deposits. I elected to save myself a pile of grief later, and so I am using bottled water.

I have had my CPAP machine just about a week now. Oh wow, the difference it makes. I should have obtained one 25 years ago!! I feel about 25 years old again, and I have a ENERGY in the morning. Now when I wake up, I actually have energy to do things! It is incredible. No more slowly coming to consciousness and wishing I wasn't awake because I am so extremely tired. NO!! Now I have energy. When I wake up.... Suddenly I am wide AWAKE!!!

In fact, I have so much energy, I am challenged with forcing myself to go to bed at the end of the day. One night I woke up because I had to go pee, and I felt so wide awake at 3:00 AM that I jumped on my computer and wrote a super long email telling a friend of mine how busy I was. I must have been up about 2 1/2 hours. Then I went back to bed, and had trouble falling asleep. All this energy that I am unaccustomed to.

I have to tell you, my life has changed. I am now beginning to do the things I should have done years ago. Well, I am blogging... for one thing. And I am finally doing something about finishing my private web over at http://polybids.com/ that I have been just letting lie dormant and unfinished for a couple of years. I am also taking classes on the internet on how to make money. If it works out, I will probably start ANOTHER blog, in addition to this one, telling about this man's quest for riches. I am considering starting an in-home business. All these things are things I did not do before because I just didn't have the energy to get up and do them.

I guess my biggest challenge is keeping myself focused, because of all the additional energy I now feel.

Oh... and I am beginning to lose weight. My metabolism is cranking up to the level it used to be when I was in college, and it is exciting. I am down to 258 pounds -- which is far better than 278. The doctor thinks much of the loss is fluid and he is probably right. I don't care. I am feeling so much better than I have in many, many years. My goal is to weigh less than 200 pounds. Well, I used to say 190, but I will be happy with anything under 200. Who knows... maybe I can even take up jogging again pretty soon. :-)

So in sumary:
The CPAP machine has worked out incredibly well in my quest for health.

Until next time,
David
polybids@yahoo.com
http://polybids.blogspot.com