Sleep Study and more

So sorry, but I am just now getting a chance to get on here and share with you what has been going on and also share with you about the sleep study. I had hoped that I would not have any problems and would not have to go for the second night - to try out what ever device that might be needed, but I was not so lucky...

Last Tuesday at 9:15pm - I checked in at sleep study place. You either need to wear something comfortable that you can sleep in or change into pajamas. I changed into pajamas.

After I changed the attendant hooked up to all sorts of wires and things. Keep in mind you can not see everything that was hooked up to me in this photo, but it give you an idea:

So there are also 4-5 different leads hooked up or glued to my head- that was fun to wash out later. They have to put really thick sticky stuff onto your scalp in order to keep the leads where they are suppose to be. I also had 2 things connected to each of my legs and then one lead to each side- of upper chest - up and over a bit from the underarm. I also had an heart rate thing pinched onto my pointer finger. And right now that is all I can remember.

Once you are hooked up - you are kind of confined to a small area. You are given a wrist bang thing that had a call button for the attendant. This is important because if you need to go to the bathroom(or need any other help) you will need to call them and let them know. They come in and unhook you from the equipment  and you carry a lot of the stuff with you to the bathroom. I always have to get up at least once( sometimes more) to go to the bathroom.

The bed was comfortable and they had 2 different types of pillows so you will probably find one you like. They do usually let you bring your own pillow if you think that would help.

I tried to go to sleep - believe me I really tried. I have to say here- I have a hard time going to sleep when I am away from home. So I knew I would have problems I did not realize that I would have this much trouble. Oh and I also really like a pretty dark room to sleep in. It is better for you to sleep in as dark of a room as possible. My room had a pretty big gap at the bottom of the door to the floor and the bright lights in the hallway shining under the door did not help in my efforts to sleep. There was a fan that I turned on so that the noise would help me go to sleep.

I did end up sleeping for about 1 1/2-2 hours and then needed to go to the bathroom. I think that he bright lights in the hallway and bathroom made it harder for me to get to sleep the next time. I finally got to sleep and may have slept about the same amount as before - then I woke up. Then I just laid there for the next 45 minutes to an hour. Then the attendant came in and unhooked me. And told me once I was change I could leave. It was about 5:20am when I left. It was cold outside and there was frost on my windows. So I had to wait there long enough to clear my windows.

When I got home - I knew that my husband did not have to wake up for 10 more minutes or so - So I moved his vehicle where it would be easier for him- and then I scraped the windows on his car. There was a thicker layer at home for sure.

After my husband left- I went and scrubbed the sticky stuff off of either side of my forehead. I did not want that stuff getting onto my pillow. I then changed into my pj's again and laid back down. I was about to sleep about another hour and 45 minutes.

I am telling you - I needed that last bit of sleep. I would have been no good during the day had I not done that.

When I left the sleep study - I did not have any information about how I had done during the night. I was discouraged because when my husband had his done several years ago - he came home knowing that he had sleep apnea.

I waited and waited to hear some results. Well when we set up my first appointment - they set up a second appointment with you so just in case - you will have it set up. They had sent the results to my primary Dr but because it said that I had a follow up appointment with the sleep study - she thought I already knew results. Anyway so on Monday at 4:30pm - I decided I would call my Dr to see if she had gotten results back - sure enough she had. I do have sleep apnea - she said I had a 87% saturation- or something like that. So basically ideal is that your oxygen level stay at 100% or as close as possible - but I was having some issues with interruptions of breathing and it caused my level to go down. It isn't a horrible case but it is something that I need to take care of. So as much as I really do NOT want to go back - for another rough night - Thursday night I will. And hopefully we can get through the night with a bit more sleep. I have a few things that I will do differently - I will be wearing a short sleeved top(I may have gotten to hot last time) and I will see if I can put my hair up in a pony tail. I always do and I sleep better than having hair all over. I am also going to see if I can go in at the 10:15 appt. instead of the 9:15 apt. Maybe if I am more tired- I will be able to sleep easier.

Anyway I know that there are at least a couple of you reading this that may need a sleep study done. And I would have to say - it isn't fun and games but in order to get a better nights sleep(I am assuming that I will get a better nights sleep once I get used to the machine) And sleep is really important for us. It helps our bodies recover from the assaults that it endures. I have also heard that getting plenty of good sleep helps in weight loss.

Speaking of weight loss~ I know that being over weight can cause sleep apnea. So I am really going to be trying to lose at least 10-20 pounds if at all possible. My plan is to get back onto a more plant food based diet. With my husband not wanting to do a plant based diet- I can not go 100% but I can work towards a bigger percent of what I eat being plant based and work on getting a variety of nutrient. It is much better to get your vitamin from food. So anyway I am hoping to be able to lose weight and I am hoping maybe eventually I will not need a sleep apnea machine - but for now it is what I need to do to be healthier- so I will do it. I will come back and share with you about my next experience with the Sleep Study.
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Ok - so an update on my step-dad: He is still in the hospital. The Drs and the physical therapist have said that they think it would be best for him to go to a skilled nursing center -to help build his strength back up and to control pain in the process and it looked like he was willing to go yesterday afternoon. But apparently he has changed his mind. He wants to go home. I am leaving this worry in God's hands. Please continue to pray for them.
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