So on my way home from work yesterday, I stopped by Peeples Music to pick up the new Weezer album Make Believe, and while I was there I also got Beck's new one, Guero, and further in my wanderings I also found a Buck 65's This Right Here Is.... So...more then I went in there for, but that's not too bad.
So when Shannon got home, I headed over there so I could at least see her for a little bit before I headed down to Iowa Lutheran Hospital for the sleep study.
I got there, Signed in and headed up to the 3rd floor. Iowa Lutheran Hospital is much less confusing then Iowa Methodist Medical Center, cause it's smaller and doesn't have near as many confusing pathways to get places.
So I got a bunch of sensors placed on my head and then the sleep tech was gonna come back around 11 to hook up the last of the stuff. So if at a point during the night I had crossed the threshold of having sleep apnea, then they'd hook me up to the CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) machine and see if they could ge the level adjusted to be right.
So around 11 or so I get the rest of the hookups (26 in all, 1 for each leg, one to check the oxygen level in my blood (which was an infrared light attached to my finger, probably the coolest monitor), one to monitor my breathing, two to monitor my heart, a band around my chest, a band around my stomach, and a bunch on my head), So it was vaguely like having a wiring board hooked up to me. and I lie down. I read for a bit, call that I'm gonna go to sleep and then try to go to sleep.
She wanted me to sleep on my back if I could (I don't usually sleep on my back), and I tried, but eventually I rolled over on my side and went to sleep. No I think I dreamed about having trouble going to sleep cause she woke me up and I thought that I was having trouble sleeping...
Apprently I come close to waking up every 15-30 minutes, because the oxygen levels in my blood dropped very low. So she came to put the CPAP machine on me.
So this is kinda how it works. They put this mask over your nose, and you are only supposed to breathe through your nose (keep your mouth closed). Then it's hooked to a vacuum like thing that holds the air pressure at a certain level (by pushing air into your lungs, so the pathway is forced to remain open. Basically it's easy to breathe in, but harder to breathe out.
It felt like air was going in my tummy and a little out through my ears, but didn't really hurt, just felt weird. I told her that it felt like a monster was trying to eat my face (I was barely awake). It was more like a moster trying to blow air down my nose.
I'm really hoping that this isn't the only option, cause I don't wanna wear this thing every night. I know it'll probably let me sleep better, and it will certainly stop or greatly reduce the snoring. The docotor I had my initial consultation with said that surgical remedys only had a 30% success rate, but considering I have an example of a person in my family that something similar worked on, wouldn't it be at least something to try? This certainly makes it near impossible to go camping or anywhere I won't have and outlet to plug in my machine.
I will admit that I do feel more rested then I normally do.