Overnight bag packed (but not packed enough, e.g. shampoo and shower items, since I would be home after breakfast). Should have brought along shower stuff. The "goo" they use to affix the electrodes to my skull looks like paste style toothpaste, but the texture is like those boogery adhesive dots you see on pill bottles or other items to affix directions to products.
Snowy rainy miserable night. Off to Burger King I go, to get a burger and a bucket of diet coke before the sleep study. Big mistake... I weighed in five pounds more than I did at the ReproEndoGuy's office.
After going to admitting, I sat and crocheted with my monster sized U hook, and a hat appeared out of nowhwere, eliciting comments from some 20-somethings seated not far from me (they were there in support of their mother who was also in for the study... and who was also crocheting). Little did we know, we'd be sharing an adjoining bathroom. And there she sat, crocheting with what I suspect was a D sized hook or smaller. Crocheting a fun fur sweater for her Chihuaua who got loose from a travel tote. My fellow crocheter and her family sat and had an impromptu pizza party there in the lobby as we sat and waited.
The rooms in the sleep study were clean and made me think of beds in a maternity ward. They had stylish headboards to give the room a "hotel" type feel; however, by hotel-type, I mean very very cheap, basic hotels. But hey, the bedding and the bathroom was clean, and there was a serviceable t.v., what more could I need for an overnight stay?
My sleep technician (I'll call him this, though I'm not sure what his official title was) was a great guy. Agreeable personality, and we talked about all manner of things for the roughly 30-60 minutes it took for him to affix the electrodes to my body. He came in roughly around 10:30 as I normally don't go to bed that early, and I was able to get some crochet and some t.v. viewing in.
Here's a pic of the hat I made in about an hour or so waiting before my sleep study commenced.Worked with the U hook in Lion Brand "Thick and Quick" in colors lemongrass and plum. Basic hat structure, worked in double crochets, w/the band being half doubles.
It's effing huge. I hope it'll shrink a bit in some hot water and a trip in the dryer.
Back to the sleep study...
The study was all diagnostic, which means they did not hook me up to a CPAP breathing machine. I suppose that would be something for a future study. Perhaps.
The bed was firm, much firmer than I am accustomed. I laid there in the dark with the warm glow of the t.v. on for atmosphere, but once the sleep tech started talking to me and asking me to respond in certain ways, I figured I'd turn the tube off. This was a huge mistake.
As if sleeping tethered to a bunch of wires/having a canula under my nose to monitor respiration/a clamp thing on my finger to monitor blood pressure/and straps across my chest and belly securing a God-knows-what-device were not enough to keep me awake... I should have kept it on, as I would wake up several times due to the steam heat/radiators clanking in the middle of the night.
At 5:30 a.m., I woke up hearing someone on an intercom call my name, and run me through the same paces as he did before I went to sleep: "Keep your eyes open. Bite down. Close your eyes. Look up. Look Down. Look left. Look Right. Cough. Make a snoring noise. Move your legs slowly. Twenty minutes or so later, he flipped the lights on, instructed me to sit up so he could take off the electrodes. The first electrode to go was the one on my right leg, which he ripped off in one sadistic yank--and yes, I yelped out--LOUDLY.
"So tell me what you dreamed about," he said. I told him I couldn't remember anything, and why did he ask. And he replied that for the last hour I was in a deep dream state and had a lot of REM.
He played things close to the vest and wouldn't tell me what he thought or saw or whatever, and told me my ReproEndoGuy will get his report in about two weeks; however, when I stopped
breathing it wasn't due to obstruction. So at the very least I don't have obstructed sleep apnea.
Whatever that means.
