March 13, 2008

Night of the Sleep Study

And boy did I look like a dork.

The good news is that we have some results already. The nurse was really nice and friendly as she strapped me in and applied all the sensors. She was also nice enough to take this picture for me.

She said that they had until 3am to decide whether I had sleep apnea. The fact that she came in before midnight to get me a CPAP mask answered any questions that I had about whether I had sleep apnea. She said it was really bad and that anyone that heard me could tell that I had sleep apnea.

They initially tried just a nose mask, but that didn't work much with my stuffed up nose and forty odd years of mouth-breathing. About twenty minutes later, she was back with a nose/mouth mask. I was breathing through that and though it dried the hell out of me, it did seem to work.

Initially, I had some trouble sleep and woke up several times. I had odd feelings about being shocked and zapped by the sensors at the beginning, but the nurse assured me that that couldn't happen and that I must have been dreaming. After I got the CPAP machine,
I slept much more thoroughly. This could mean that I'll snore less and be much more awake and alert in my day to day life, when I get one of my own.

We'll see.

Update: And what's up with the education video that shows everyone with sleep apnea looking like Louie Anderson after a month long Ben & Jerry's eat-a-thon? If I didn't know that a thin person that I knew had sleep apnea, I would be feeling pretty fat after watching that.

3 comments:

qor72 said...

Resistance is futile, you will be d0rkified.

May the results be worth the lack of dignity. :D

Unknown said...

A) lovely, lovely picture.
b) RYAN has (had, I should say) Sleep apnea. If you can find a thinner specimen than Ry in 1st grade (removal of tonsils & adenoids worked for him, yay!).
c) JP, I'm SO GLAD, finally you get help!!!

Al Toid said...

I'm so hoping to be less cranky and tired all the time. Soon, I'll be able to keep up with the various kids in my life. Then the trouble will really start.