So I've gotten a lot of questions regarding my sleep study and the results. If you wish to read on, I've detailed the story of the study studies that were performed:
I arrived at the sleep center after dinner on a Monday night showered, sans makeup/lotion/hair products and already in my comfy pj's. The next 1.5 hours consisted of wiring me up. I had 10+ electrodes stuck to my scalp and face, two leads on my chest/abdomen, two leads on each of my legs and an oxygen tube in my nose. Oh, and an oximeter on my left index finger. I do have a few pics that I'm not sure if I'll share or not....they are not the most flattering of pics.
I was finally ready for sleep just before 11pm. I was led to a hotel/motel type room with an attached bathroom, tv and bed. Once all of my wires were confirmed to be sending the appropriate signals back to the "command center," I was given the ok to fall asleep.
Lights went out, the door shut and I start to panic slightly; I'm supposed to fall asleep in a weird room, alone, without my husband or dogs or the comfort of my own bed? Luckily, since my issue seems to be with staying awake, not falling asleep, I quickly fell under. The next thing I remember is my phone ringing, waking me at 7:30am.
I hear my name through the intercom in the pitch dark of the foreign room and I take a moment to remember where I am. Before I know it, the tech is turning on the lights, unhooking (some) of my wires and leading me to the command center where I'm told there is cereal I can eat while I wait for further instructions.
Now when I wake up on a typical morning, it is because a) my alarm has been snoozing on/off for over an hour and Hubs finally kicks me out of bed or b) my alarm has been snoozing on/off for over an hour and a half and now I'm late for work so I jump up to make it there a-sap. The pressure of not being too late helps me wake, along with copious amounts of coffee. The morning of this sleep study I am afforded neither a snooze button nor coffee. {Well, to be fair, they offered me decaf coffee. But I feel like that is about as effective as trying to get drunk off of an O'Doul's. Sorry, it's true.}
A new tech comes in and explains that I will need to stay the whole day in the center for additional testing. That they will will leave me wired and test me while "napping" which will be allowed every 2 hours for a maximum of 20 minutes. The big problem with this? I am *not* allowed to sleep in between naps. The saving grace was that MJ's memorial services were televised on every station that day, so at least I had more to keep me entertained than Judge Judy or Days of Our Lives.
Before each nap, I was asked to complete a questionnaire in which I had to tell what I had done for the past 1.5 hours and rate how "awake" I felt on a scale of 1-10. Eh, I'm sitting in a bed watching TV pinching myself so I don't sleep. How "awake" do you think I feel? Oh, and did I mention they had a Vegas-like camera in the ceiling, with someone watching me to make sure I didn't fall asleep? Yes, yes they did.
After my fourth nap of the day, the lights turned on, the tech came in and they started pulling off the wires. I was handed a flimsy black comb (you know, like the ones they handed out on picture day in elementary school for last minute hair taming) to comb out the goo in my hair that had been holding the electrodes and a washcloth to remove the adhesive leftover on my chest and legs where the other leads had been stuck. Then, I was dismissed.
I walked out of the office at 3:30pm that Tuesday, hit with hot summer Arizona heat and the realization that most of my day off (my precious day off!) had already passed me by.
Stay tuned for Part II:Results coming next....(just because this is so riveting)
xoxo
