Saturday, January 16, 2010

A sleep study and a new toy

I had the sleep study done on Wednesday, Jan 6. On Monday, Jan 11 the home medical supply place called me and said that the neurologist at the sleep clinic had ordered a CPAP machine for me. Oh goody, a new toy.

The sleep study wasn't bad. I had to be at the clinic at 9:15 pm and we were about 5 minutes early. There are 3 rooms at this clinic, and the other two patients were already there. They showed me the room, it was very nice. It had a double bed with a very nice warm comforter.

My niece Amy had a sleep study done a couple of months ago. She told me to take an extra throw or blanket since the room was cold. So I took a down throw along with me. And a sweater. The ironic thing is that I don't get cold at night. In fact I am like a furnace and usually throw the covers off during the night. Anyway...

George and Kim, the two sleep technicians came in to put all the leads on me. There are about 20 leads. 2 go on each leg, 1 goes on each side of the collarbone, 1 behind each ear, 2 on the neck, a few in your hair and on the forehead. The wires go back to this little box for monitoring of the patient. A very soft belt goes around the chest and waist. Here is a picture of someone all hooked up. It took about 30 minutes to attach everything.



I then climbed into bed and George attached a lead to the chest belt and the waist belt. He then checked all of the leads to make sure they were still stuck on me, then put a probe in my nose. The probe is just like a nasal canula, except much smaller. This probe lets the technicians know if the patient breathes through their mouth or nose. I then had the pulse oximeter put on my finger.

I got comfortable, George turned out the light, and I tried to fall asleep. I have no idea how long it took for me to fall asleep, but it seemed just a few minutes later that Kim came in with a nasal canula. Apparently my oxygen was too low, and so she put the nasal canula in my nose, along with the probe. There was actually room in my nostrils for both. And it didn't hurt. I fell asleep.

I tried to turn over, but the oxygen tubing was too short. Kim was watching me and came in the room and held the tubing so I could turn on my right side. I fell asleep.

In a few minutes, Kim came in with a CPAP mask had hooked it up. I didn't realize that the study was a Split Night PSG with CPAP Titration.

Split Night PSG is conducted when moderate or severe Sleep Apnea has been discovered or strongly suspected during the first part of the nights study. The second half of the night is used for CPAP Titration.


The mask went on. It was a different kind of mask than the one I wore in the hospital. It just covered my nose, not my nose and mouth. I fell asleep.

In a few minutes, George came in and asked me if I was hot. No, I was sleeping under the sheet and had thrown the comforter off. Apparently I was sweating and a few of the leads had fallen off. So George cleaned the spots and reattached the leads behind my ears, neck, and forehead. I got comfortable again and he turned the fan on over my head so I wouldn't sweat. I fell sleep and had a weird dream.

I dreamed the test was over and we were having a party to celebrate. There were even celebrities and famous people there. They all congratulated us and then we had breakfast together. I woke up rather disoriented because I thought the study was over and I was still in bed. I fell asleep again, and a few minutes later George woke me up and said the study was over.

I did sleep because I can sleep anywhere. It just seemed like a short time every time they woke me up. I got dressed, went home, had breakfast, and slept most of the day.

I tried to get information on how I did, but George and Kim weren't too talkative. I guess I will get the results when I see my doctor on Tuesday.

The overall experience was really good. I'm glad I had the study done, maybe now I can get some good rest.

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