Proof -- in the Pudding, of course

Hubby actually likes the new C-pap machine.  I'm not sure if that's going to jinx it but right now he is very happy with it.

After two naps wearing it yesterday afternoon, he put it on and it lasted most of the night.  It does make him very, very dry mouthed after a couple hours of usage.  The home health care provider swore that in about three weeks the dry mouth / stuffy nose thing would begin to wear off.   We solved some of the immediate problem by laying in a supply of icy cold orange juice and two packages of sugar free popsickles.  When he wakes up he wanders out to the kitchen and gets himself a swig of juice and a fruity pop.

Now right there is a first.  Lately Hubby has not been getting himself anything.  He plaintively cries out from his bed what he needs and expects it to be delivered to him post haste.  Admittedly I've been grumbling that he needs to start again "doing" for himself, but he's rather taken to enjoying thinking he's got a downstairs maid just like in Downton Abby.  Last night he took care of his own needs without disturbing me or the dogs.

He slept so well using the C-pap that when I woke up at 1 a.m. I had to stand and stare at him for a couple of minutes before I was sure he hadn't died in the middle of the night.  I was so used to his tossing and gasping and grunting and snorting and talking in his sleep, that I couldn't fathom that this mound of silent husband was actually just sound asleep. 

Today, to prove just how much better he was beginning to feel now that he had actually gotten some sleep and had a heart that was beating at a steady 65 (not 150+), he took us out to breakfast at Big Biscuit.  He didn't walk with the boys and me in the park this morning -- it was simply too deadly cold for his frozen larynx to cope, but as soon as we got home and the coats off the boys, he was ready for a morning's outing.

After Big Biscuit, we hit Sam's and for the first time in eight months he went inside, pushed the cart, walked around, and even pulled a case of dog food off the shelves.  He was ready to come home once we had put in two cases of water and some milk and eggs, but he had actually been inside a store.  This is quite a change for us.

In a lovely added note, when we got home and the car was unloaded, I found an email from Amazon that the last CDs I had purchased at Christmas had now been loaded into my Cloud account, ready for access whenever I wanted.  When I signed-in to Cloud I found 556 individual songs and some 50 albums waiting for me.  I usually give Hubby CDs at Christmas so on our way home from Houston we can listen to music other than Christmas. This year we loaded up on Alfie Boe and Il Volo.  Now, as I'm composing this, Alfie Boe is singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" to me and my heart is filled with joy.  Once, years ago, when I asked Hubby if he associated songs with people, he said, "Of course." So I had to ask -- and my song was "You'll Never Walk Alone" -- and I thought, well, how unromantic.  But life has taught me that the song is very loving and caring and now it probably is MY song (though I usually try to claim "The Impossible Dream"). 

The house is full of food, the furnace is cranked up high to combat the cold, the dogs have been walked, our bellies are full of warm breakfast food, and Alfie Boe is serenading me.  Hubby IS in recovery mode with a strong heartbeat, the potential for restful sleep, and we have been able to afford, so far, all the medical treatment he has needed.  Though the dogs had to be walked in the cold, we are now able to cocoon ourselves into out fleeces and jammies and ride out the sub-zero temps. This retirement thing is damned good!