Tag Archives: CPAP

CPAP update and my week in Instagram

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Thanks to everyone who made contact about last week’s CPAP post asking for updates as I go. Well this week was much the same as the first week. Interrupted nights and a feeling of being more tired than normal. It made the days at work long and tedious. The abrasion lesion on my occiput is healing in that I think a callous is forming.

On Tuesday night I flew to Brisbane for a Wednesday meeting. I thought about taking the machine but in the end didn’t. I was just too busy and the extra weight in a bag wasn’t something I needed to focus on with so much on my mind.

I thought for this post I’d tell a story by Instagram (Check out my profile at http://instagram.com/garydlum). I know they’re mostly food images but then what else would you expect.

If you click on the images you’ll also be able to see the Instagram comments.

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On Monday at lunch I had a quiche. It was a ham, cheese and shallot quiche. I like quiche and no matter what anyone says, men do eat quiche. The quiches I buy for lunch come from the Urban Bean Espresso Bar in Scarborough House and the cost $4.90 each. I enjoyed my quiche with a mug of Canadian ice wine tea.

Ham, cheese and shallot quiche

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On Monday evening I had some left over beef mince with the seed mustard and XXXX Gold beer. I wrote about this last week at http://garydavidlum.com/2012/11/11/cpap-shogun-japanese-restaurant-a-burger-with-a-difference/
I was feeling pretty tired and lazy. I just made an open sandwich and used the yoghurt and Worcestershire sauce to add a little flavour to the gravy.

Open sandwich. Burger made with seed mustard and beer. Multigrain Vienna bread. Yoghurt and Worcestershire sauce.

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On Tuesday I was packed for a night away and wanted something light. I chose a sausage roll and a Cascade Lemon, lime and bitters. The sausage roll costs $4.50 from the Urban Bean Espresso Bar.

Lunch

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On Tuesday evening after a full on day at work I drove to the Canberra Airport and relaxed a little in the Qantas Business Lounge.

Preflight snack

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On the flight I enjoyed a salad of ocean trout on an Asian coleslaw.

Ocean trout and Asian coleslaw.

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The meal also came with a chocolate and caramel brownie. Some Instagram friends unkindly likened it to a log of faeces.

Chocolate caramel brownie

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On Tuesday evening I checked into the Oaks Aurora Tower. It’s a residential apartment block which also has some hotel style apartment rooms that the Oaks group uses. This was my second stay. My first stay was earlier in the year for a work meeting. I found the room then a little grimy and things like the remote controls were sticky. It was cheap for the taxpayer so I thought I’d try again. This time I had a different room. The carpet felt dirty and the kitchen area was a little grimy. The remote controls were also sticky. I don’t think I’ll stay there again. At $130 a night it is a cheap hotel when compared to other places in the city, especially for an apartment style room with a kitchen. On Wednesday morning I woke up to this view of Brisbane.

Hello Brisbane.

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The meeting went well. It was a full day and I spoke for a good part of the meeting. My flight back to Canberra departed at about 1900 AEST and wouldn’t land until 2200 AEDT. For dinner on the flight I had a pork chop and vegetables.

Pork chop and mash

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The Wednesday marked the 40th birthday for a work mate. We have a great culture in the branch with many of my work mates being terrific cooks. They often bring in cakes, macarons, biscuits and other sweet treats. To celebrate another work mate made a baked raspberry cheesecake. The best thing about my work mates is they remember me and kept me a slice. Of course they also had cream :-)

A work mate turns 40 and another work mate makes a baked cheese cake. We have a terrific work place.

There were some comments from Instagram followers asking how I’m not huge. Truth is I try not to eat too much. I try to exercise every day and when I feel myself thickening, I pull back on the intake. Over the last week or so I’ve dropped a couple of kilograms through reduced intake, stress and poor sleep.

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On Thursday evening I was exhausted. I wanted something simple and tasty to eat. I was craving something salty. I had some chicken thighs with skin on them and needed to cook them over a few nights. I floured the thigh with plain flour, mustard, spike and curry powder. I served them with potato gems (I think in the US you call them Tater Tots.
The chicken looked like it was fried, it was oven cooked.

The chicken looks fried but it's oven done with a little flour.

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For some years Canberra taxpayers have been investing in public art. I like public art and I reckon every city should have some nice art works for everyone to enjoy. Every morning at 0730 I take a walk from my office to get my personal mail from the post office. It looks like there will be a new installation soon. It’s a pity the surrounding buildings aren’t looking too flash at the moment.

I wonder what new piece of #publicart is being erected #igerscanberra

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On Fridays some work mates in the branch enjoy chips from the Urban Bean Espresso Bar. A small container costs $4.00. They are pretty good chips (or for my north American friends, fries). I ate Friday lunch with a friend who is about to get married. She’s been watching her diet to ensure she can fit into her dress. This week however, she decided to get in her words “sucky in” pants which sound like elasticised support underwear. She felt at liberty to eat chips which I thought was cool.

Chips with work mates. One is getting married soon. She's given up on the diet and bought a girdle thing.

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Friday night came and I wasn’t hungry. I just had no appetite. It wasn’t really the chips, I was just exhausted and mentally wasted. I cooked a chicken thigh alone and ate that.

I've lost my appetite. Just a piece if chicken tonight.

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I decided yesterday I would clean out my home office of two year’s worth of papers that I’d been meaning to get to and file. It took a good part of the whole day to go through it all.
My lunch was a nice piece of multigrain Vienna loaf that I toasted and topped with tinned red salmon and a vine tomato.

Lunch. Multigrain Vienna bread with red salmon and tomato.

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Last night I made some coleslaw and had a chicken thigh.

Dinner. Chicken thigh and coleslaw with some bread.

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On the subject of Canberra public art, this morning on my work I captured the image of my favourite piece, viz., the Owl Statue. From the front it’s clearly an owl, from behind however, many Canberra residents have likened the phallic shape as a piece of Canberra’s pubic art.

Good morning Mr Owl. Please share your wisdom.

Goodbye Mr Owl.

On my walk this morning I also came across this piece of graffiti which I can relate to.

I can relate to this

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After my walk I felt like eating some eggs and drinking a strong cup of coffee.

Breakfast. Eggs on toast.

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I spent a few hours at work this morning and again didn’t feel that hungry. Lunch was pretty boring. The rest of the tinned red salmon on toast.

Lunch. Red salmon from Aldi on toast

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This evening I had a piece of Atlantic salmon (from Tasmania) along with some more fresh coleslaw. I cooked the salmon by placing in a fry pan and adding a lid. I cooked it on a moderately high heat for five minutes. The skin was crisp and the flesh was perfectly cooked. The coleslaw was fresh and tangy and nothing beats adding a bit of Kensington Pride mango. This was a nice cooked dinner with a tropical touch. I also added chilli flakes and a little Tabasco Sauce to the salmon to add some bite.

Atlantic salmon with freshly made coleslaw plus Kensington Pride mango #salmon #mango #coleslaw #igersfood

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This week Miss11 and Miss15 are in Geelong for the National Club Championships. Miss15 has a bad ankle and will only be doing uneven bars and beam.

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Urban Bean Espresso Bar http://www.beanhunter.com/cafes/review/Urban-Bean-Espresso-Bar
Foursquare https://foursquare.com/v/urban-bean-espresso-bar/4da224be7aee5481e133d0fe

Scarborough House https://foursquare.com/v/scarborough-house/4bbea14182a2ef3b45c12bd2
Google Map http://goo.gl/maps/qGN6Q


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Canberra Airport https://foursquare.com/v/canberra-airport-cbr/4b1896c3f964a52068d423e3
Google Map http://goo.gl/maps/MqQ4t


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Qantas Business Lounge https://foursquare.com/v/qantas-business-lounge/4b889f09f964a520fd0432e3

Aurora Tower https://foursquare.com/v/aurora-tower/4b1ba1fdf964a52054fc23e3
Google Map http://goo.gl/maps/9ydtD


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Oaks Hotels and Resorts http://www.oakshotelsresorts.com/

Tater Tots http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tater_Tots

Woden Wind Tunnel https://foursquare.com/v/woden-wind-tunnel/4de2bb3ac65b7a3e21223baa

Owl Statue https://foursquare.com/v/owl-statue/4dd44c5352b18e28aa120356

Related articles

CPAP | Shogun Japanese Restaurant | a burger with a difference

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I’ve been at a low ebb this week for a wide range of reasons. After a week that ended in the wanton wonton weekend I had a lot of catching up to do at work as well as the extra work associated with a week of meetings. In addition I started using a CPAP machine at night. For my adult life and according to Mum my childhood too, I’ve been a loud snorer. Given I’m now getting older and getting to that age when I should start putting in place all those things I learnt in medical school, I’m taking my health more seriously. I now have a general practitioner (GP) and I now think more seriously about exercise. With a history of snoring, my GP referred me to a respiratory physician with an interest in sleep medicine. I spent a night in a sleep laboratory and came out discovering I do not have sleep apnœa (which is good), but that I have frequent hypopnœas. Roughly thirty or more times a night I stop breathing for up to 10 seconds.

On Tuesday I was fitted for a continuous positive airways pressure (CPAP) machine and I’ve been using it each night since. The brochures and other literature I’ve read says it can take up to a month or more to get used to CPAP therapy. I hope it takes less than that because I’m finding I’m more tired and irritable than ever before. In many of the on-line forums it looks like some people need repeated fittings and flow titration. Every morning this week I’ve got up feeling worse than when I wasn’t using CPAP.

My bedside CPAP set up

It may be that I’d be better learning to play the didgeridoo which has been shown to assist patients with sleep apnœa.

I will persist because I want to learn to sleep better. I average about five hours a night which isn’t enough. I’m usually in bed early and I wake multiple times a night and then rise at about 0400 to go for a walk. I hope one day to sleep through the night each night and wake at 0600 and exercise then. That will mean a later start at work which has it’s own problems for me but I’ll deal with that soon.

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Last night I went out with friends to the Shogun Japanese Restaurant and had my first Teppanyaki experience. The restaurant itself felt a little old and dated. That said the wait staff were friendly and helpful. I had been told that many Japanese restaurants are not inexpensive especially if the quality of the food and experience is high. We chose from a set Teppanyaki menu for around $39 per person. There was a mixed reaction amongst my friends. For me the cost was reasonable for the quality of the beef, chicken and fish as well as the entertainment provided by the chef. The set menu consists of an entrée, soup, three meats and a dessert. I thought it was worthwhile and if the opportunity arose again I’d return.

Entrée

Raw fish and chicken

Cooked fish

Omelet being prepared for fried rice.

Beef and sprouts waiting to be cooked.

Beef and chicken cooking.

Flaming beef

Ice cream, cream and fruit for dessert.

The Teppanyaki chef wrote this in salt upside down and back to front.

Map for Shogun Japanese Restaurant in Canberra http://goo.gl/maps/FYrU0


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After Shogun we went to Koko Black which is an institution in Canberra. I had a hot chocolate affogato because it was a cool night last night.

Hot chocolate and vanilla bean ice cream

Hot chocolate affogato

Map for Koko Black in Canberra http://goo.gl/maps/dHDil


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During the week I came across a Jamie Oliver recipe which I stored in Evernote. I bought some beef mince and made burgers with some mustard and beer (XXXX Gold). I arranged the burger as an open sandwich on a slice of toasted multigrain Vienna loaf with some thickly sliced tomato and thinly sliced pickle. I used Jamie’s yoghurt and Worcestershire sauce idea as a sauce. In addition I made a slaw with cabbage, carrot and red onion.

On balance, I should have used a knife rather than a food processor for the slaw. The burger tasted okay but I think I should have purchased a coarser grade of beef mince. The yoghurt and Worcestershire sauce idea was pretty good on the burger. The seed mustard was a good addition. It’s a pity I can’t drink much alcohol otherwise the stubbie would have made a good accompaniment to the burger.

Yoghurt and Worcestershire sauce

Kensington Pride Mango

Addendum….the next night

Open burger sandwich