Well, jeeze, of course you couldn’t sleep with that on your face. More modern masks don’t cover the eyes and have fewer legs (and as a side benefit, the part they eliminate is the part that chews on your eyeballs, so it’s more comfortable there, too) ;).
However - if your friend gave you the machine, it would not have been correctly adjusted for you so even if you COULD tolerate it, it might do more harm than good. Really, you need a formal study to see a) if you have apnea, and b) what setting is needed to control it. As Nars Glinley noted, the masks are a lot less obtrusive (he and I have the same model - hey! we’re mask-buddies!!! :D).
Data point on the surgery: Typo Knig and I have both had surgery for deviated septum / turbinates. Until mine, I had no idea why ANYONE would bother with Afrin - I mean, it’s not like you need that nose to breathe, right? I had literally never been able to breathe through mine.
Then I had the surgery… and wow. That thing really allows passage of air??? My asthma improved somewhat also. Of course it wasn’t an unmixed blessing - I was commuting by Metro at that point and all of a sudden I could smell stuff I’d been spared from before :eek::p. My apnea did not improve - this was many years back and I’d not been formally diagnosed, but I was aware of nighttime breath-holding.
Typo Knig’s snoring didn’t improve after his surgery - in fact it was much worse a few years later. Admittedly, he gained some weight and also got older during that time, both factors in worsening apnea.
However, I do think that making sure the nose works properly is a necessary first step. If nothing else, I think CPAP titration readings will be screwed up, and it would be harder to get a mask working properly.
So - see how you do once things have fully healed. Then do consider a sleep study if you’re not feeling enough better.