Wednesday, February 25, 2009

my first sleep clinic study

My first experience with a sleep clinic was in 1999. I had just been diagnosed with sleep apnea and my doctor wanted me to have an overnight study done. A friend of mine had the same test just months before me and he told me it wasn’t bad. You just go there in the evening and sleep. Of course they hook you up to machines that read how well you are sleeping. Well that didn’t seem bad.
It was the night of the study, I had my overnight bag packed and I drove to the clinic around 8. I was given paperwork to fill out by the sleep tech. after that I was taken into what would be my room for the night. They tried to make it cozy with a TV and pictures on the wall but it was still a hospital room.

Around 9 o’clock the tech took me into another room to hook me up to monitors. It was very weird. He put this glue like substance in my hair, my face, my chest and my legs. Then he attached metal discs onto the globs of glue all over my body. Wires were then connected to the metal discs. I’m supposed to sleep like this!

I went back to my room, all wired up, and I laid down in the bed. The tech attached the end of the wires to a machine that would monitor my sleep. He then informed me that he would be watching me in the other room via a monitor. If I need to go to the bathroom or if I needed anything else press the button on the remote that he gave me.

This was going to be a long night.

For the first hour I just stared at the ceiling, wide awake and feeling very uncomfortable. After the second hour I hear the voice of the tech booming over the intercom wondering why I wasn’t asleep. I told him I just was too uncomfortable to sleep. He suggested lying on my side. I tried it and after about an hour I fell asleep.

No sooner had I started to rest then the voice of the tech came booming again over the intercom. Apparently when I had turned over I knocked loose some of the wires. So he came in the room and reattached me.

Any chance of sleep at this point was zero. I might have dosed off around 4 in the morning but not for long.

At five in the morning the tech came in and unattached me. He told me that did have enough results to send to the doctor.

Great, wonderful I just wanted to get out of there.
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