Needing support dealing with the CPAP machine. ....

Not to scare you but here is my understanding of why doctors are requiring the sleep apnea testing and that you bring your machine when you come in for surgery.  Both the anesthesia and the pain killers depress your breathing and if you already have breathing issues (like undiagnosed or untreated sleep apnea) it can lead to serious complications or death immediately post-op.  When WLS started becoming a lot more popular (5 years ago?) there was a rash of unexpected deaths and one of the causes was sleep apnea because back then they didn't require the testing for it.  Because I have both sleep apnea and asthma they had me on supplemental oxygen, an O2 monitor and my CPAP (when sleeping) for the first 24 hours.  The drugs had sufficiently depressed my breathing that the O2 monitor would beep when I was sitting up in the chair in my room so they came in and put the oxygen on me even while I was awake.  I was fine once the initial meds were out of my system but I was glad to have my CPAP there. Given that your apnea is mild perhaps this won't be a problem for you. Hang in there,

I'm sorry you are having trouble with your CPAP-  it was hard for me to get used to and I had a few hissy fits myself, but it truely has made a huge difference in my life. I used to get up to pee 10X a night - I was sleep walking and couldn't stay awake if I got still or quiet. I would be out before my head hit the pillow. Play with your mask to get it comfy, show it to your kids & explain how it will help you sleep. You need it after surgery to keep you breathing while you are sleeping because anethesia depresses your normal breathing. To keep from feeling suffocated practice breathing through your nose & put your tongue up behind your top teeth( this will help you not to clench your jaw or grind your teeth)  I always get settled in bed and let me breathing slow down before I turn mine on. It helps with the suffocating feeling. Hope this helps & just think after the surgery, once you start dropping weight, you might be able to ditch the thing.( That's what I am hoping for!) Laura