Sleep Study

I started this blog as I was getting ready to have surgery on my throat.  The surgery I elected to do was to decrease the severity of my sleep apnea which was severe and a long term threat to my overall health.  A sleep study is  the "science" of what is happening with my body when sleeping.  This post surgery study could not occur until all swelling from the surgery was gone.  2-3 months post surgery.  Last night I trundled off to the sleep clinic.  There I was slathered with gel where the electrodes would go!  On my head, my face, my legs, my chest, my neck, my belly....hardly a spot not scrubbed.  "All dead cells have to scrubbed off in order for the electrodes to register", the technician said.  I owwed, and ouched, and gritted my teeth, as I was prepped.  Then electrodes were all in place.  The next step was picking out the appropriate C-PAP mask.  I almost ripped off the electrodes and went screaming out of the bedroom, the #1 reason why I had surgery was to eliminate the need for a mask, no mask worked for me-and I had tried mightily.  As we picked the mask that seemed the best choice,  I almost started crying.  Just thinking about what it would mean if they put a mask on me during the night, was more than I could bear.  If they put a mask on me during the night it meant that  I would have met the requirements, the threshold of number of apnea epidsodes.  Then they would hook me up to a c-pap and watch what happened to my sleeping with the C-Pap machine.  The whole process brought into more than high relief the anxiety and stress I have been carrying as I got to this day of reckoning.  Was this surgery successful?   

The technician was empathetic and kind.  After getting all "prepped".  I waited as the tech got one more person ready.  There were a few more steps that I had to do.   I took my 1 Ambien CR pill ($12.45 not covered by insurance!), watched the golden globes and then spent a few minutes meditating and going to a place were sleep studies, apnea and the body just didn't matter.  Then the technician' s voice came over the speaker in my room.  There were a series of little tests that I had to perform.  Blink, move eyes right/left,  wiggle my foot, breathe in deeply, hold my breath.  Everything A-ok, except me.  Then light's out, the sleeping pill seemed more like a stimulate,  breathe, turn it over, trust, breath,turn it over, trust, the every awake monkey on my back would not stop, then, finally sleep.   I woke up and had to go to the bathroom, now that's a feat.  No bathroom in my room, and I am hooked up to about 75 wires...I ask for assistance,  the tech comes in, I trundle off with all my wires, boxes, etc around my neck.  When I get back to my room, I ask what time is it?  I am thinking it is about 11:30 p.m.  because when I woke up I did not have a c-pap mask on, I am thinking it is the beginning of a LONG evening.   But no, it is 5:15 a.m.  No mask, I ask if I could go home.  No,  need more time of the study.  Ok,  I'll go back to sleep.  Fat chance I think.  Next thing I know the tech is talking to me through the speaker in my room.  Wake up MaryAlice, good morning.  Good morning?  What time is it?  7:46 a.m.  No c-pap?  None.  The tech comes in, she breaks the rules and starts talking about my study.  I say how thrilled I am no c-pap.  She says, in your last study you had over 59 "episodes" every hour.  Less than 9 tonite.  I snored "just a little, no roaring snore" when I first fell asleep, she was thinking she would be "hooking me up", but I stopped snoring very quickly.  The threshold for the c-pap is more than 20 episodes per hr.   

I can hardly process the news.  Less than 9 "episodes".  I am awake it is morning, no c-pap machine!  I don't see my sleep doc until next week.  But this is only good news.  It is almost exactly 24 hours from the time that I walked into the sleep clinic last night.  I am still processing this news.  I can feel pent up stress leaving my body.  I am fighting back tears of what I don't know.  I am so glad that  this choice of having surgery seems to be one that has meant something very good for me.  I am glad that my own listening to my body to my self has lead to a choice that was/is good for me.  I am so glad that they didn't hook me up to a machine last night that blew air into body and kept my airways open.  

Breathe, Breathe, Breathe.  

I would love some comments,  this has been a long road and thank you all for going down it with me!