Archives
4:05:00 PM EDT
Sleepless in Ithaca
Imagine, if you can, laying in a strange bed with a handful of wires attached to various parts of your body, twisted into a bunch atop your pillow. Imagine being in a dark room with a total stranger listening in on all sounds you make, even as low as a whisper. Imagine having to be assisted in traveling to the bathroom by the same stranger.
If you can do all of this, you have some idea of what a sleep study is all about. After suspecting that I had sleep apnea, my Dr suggested that I have a sleep study done. I have trouble staying awake most days and am told that I snore loudly enough to wake the dead.....all symptoms.
After arriving at the hospital at 10pm, I spent another hour being hooked up to wires. They were attached to my scalp, fingers, chest, abdomen...even my upper lip! I was then supposed to have a "normal" nights sleep while being monitored from an unseen location. My favorite part was when I needed to plead quietly into the darkness that I needed to use the bathroom. A technician appeared at my door, unplugged me from my monitoring system and helped me into the bathroom, where I discovered how difficult it is to use the toilet while juggling a giant squid of tangled wires.
The upshot of this experience is that I need to do this again, only with a C-PAP machine (another type of giant plastic squid) attached to my face. I do indeed have sleep apnea. I stop breathing 64 times an hour during the night, according to my silent night monitor, making it difficult to get enough oxygen to my brain. (No wise comments, Henry)
Written by momraupp Blog about this entry |
Add to del.icio.us | 
digg this
3/26/08 9:48 PM
Wow - 64 times an hour? More than once a minute?! Yikes.
I have been told I snore, but supposedly it sounds more like a soft snorting or snuffling. Ask Deb - she's shared a room with me, before. I've heard my sister Eloise snore, and it sounds like that.