Dr. Jogani was happy. I met with him at his Saratoga Hospital office late this morning.

Soon after we met, he had the unpleasant duty of informing me that my heart was stopping 80 times an hour while I slept. No wonder I was tired.

My body thought I was having a heart attack 80 times an hour and reacted accordingly. This went on for years; Dr. Jogani said I was lucky to be alive.

He urged me to take two overnight tests in the sleep Lab; he said it was essential for my overall and heart health.

He said I almost certainly had “extreme” Sleep Apnea. I didn’t like “extreme” in health care; that is always bad news.

But his urgency got my attention. I couldn’t just get common sleep apnea; I had to get “extreme” sleep apnea.

Dr. Jogani was impressive and persuasive, and concerned. He scared the crap out of me.

I got the test – it is an eerie experience to have someone monitoring you while you sleep. Dr. Jogani was right.

But that was then, and this is now.

“Your results are terrific,” he said this morning, “you’ve gone from 80 events and hour to one or two.”

Dr. Jogani came here from India 18 years ago. I had him pegged for another data-drive male doctor, but today, the ice broke, and we had a good talk beyond data.

He says I don’t need to see him for another six months, a sign that things are good. He seemed genuinely pleased and relieved.

The sleep Apnea experience has been complex. First, there were two nights of sleeping in a sleeping lab with five cameras and 21 wires attached to my body.

Automatic CPAP machines vary in that they can detect a collapse of the airway by measuring resistance and react by increasing the pressure as needed during the night to control sleep apnea. Some machines will also test lower pressures and adjust the pressure downward.

It was pretty wild those first few months. The masks made strange noises, they were often lifted off the face if the pressure was too firm, and they sometimes made honking noises when the shows weren’t tight enough and the wind was blowing through the openings.

The pressure was so intense it was lifting the mask off my face. I met with Dr. Jogani and asked him to lower the pressure. Reluctantly, he did.

The problem was solved.

I could cuddle with Maria, but it was tricky..those honking noises often woke her up (as they did me), and the mask had holes that discharged the extra pressure right out and into her face if we were too close.

I began to sleep longer and longer, and as I experimented with masks and headpieces, it got better. Now I sleep between six and eight hours every night, something I never did in my whole life. I just possibly saved my life as well.

Maria and I have worked through the sometimes strange changes. We cuddle all the time, and I sleep on my side half the night. But I went through a lot of masks to get there. It helps to be stubborn and obsessive.

Then a health equipment salesperson came to our horse and fitted me with a mask. After that, I was pretty much on my own.

Sleep Apnea treatment is about much more than masks. It’s a mega-billion dollar industry.

There are many kinds of shows – nasal (for the nose) and full face (breathing through the nose and mouth.) A machine powers the air to the mask, requiring filters and filtered water for the built-in humidifier.

There are all kinds of hoses of different lengths.

Some are heated. There are hundreds of different masks, all types of headgear, tubes to the machine, special pillows, and chin straps for people who snore or sleep with their mouths open (that can throw off the airflow to the masks).

There are paper filters that need to be changed every other week.

The process is really trial and error, this is America, and Sleep Apnea is a vast business; search “CPAP” on Amazon, and it is shocking to see what a huge business this is.

Insurance pays for some costs sometimes – you know the drill.

A CPAP (“Continuous Positive Airway Pressure”) app collects data every night and ranks the use from one to 100.

Points get taken off for too many “events” (not breathing), mask “lifts,” mask “adjustments, usage hours, and mask “on/offs.”

It stings to get a low score. I love it and cheer when I reach 100.

Most nights, I’m in the high 90’s. When I was sick, I dropped in the ’70s. Never mind Speel Apnea; I could hardly breathe.

I went through five or six different masks before finding the right one, which I discovered last week. It’s a nasal mask with soft nose “pillows” and headgear that goes around the top of my head for security.

It’s perfect for me; it’s my mask. But it was not simple. It is, however, essential.

Dr. Jogani was surprised, he said, at the dramatic progress I had made.

He walked me out of wearing the strips of sensitive adhesive paper that I have been using to keep my mouth shut at night.

He said I needed to have a chin map; he didn’t want me  taping my mouth (which many Cpap users do.) I ordered a chin strap today.

There are all kinds of wraps and devices to put on your face to keep the masks from leaving masks or hurting.

But I’ve got it now.

I was proud of myself. I took this seriously and worked hard to figure out the right equipment. I could quickly have passed away during one of those 80 “events” an hour.

Once again, a good and caring doctor (yes, a male) and a willingness to listen brought me to a healthier place.

Thanks, Doc. I’ve said that a lot in the past few years.