2-9-17 Shhhhhh!!!! Someone's sleeping.

First off, before someone comments on how much hair I have or how I have changed...this picture is NOT me. I took one of me, but it was so scary that I am not letting anyone other than dear, old Loy see it--and he's threatened with death and torture if he ever shows anyone that picture or if he ever puts it on his iPad!!!

Now, to the blog...

I have sleep issues. I have always been a kind of sleepy girl. I remember fighting falling asleep in classes starting in 7th grade. Such a chore to keep the old eyelids open!!! And I love to nap. Can nap anytime, any place.

In the past few years, it's gotten worse. It's dictating my life--when I schedule appointments, when I schedule working hours, where I can drive by myself. And a strange thing began to happen. I would wake up in the mornings and Loy would be in the guest bed. He said my snoring was so loud he couldn't sleep. (This caused a few cranky moments in me, as you can imagine. Things like, "Well, you snore too and I don't leave!" were heard in the Watley house.) Deep down, I knew it was bad. Have you ever been sleeping and you hear this terrible snoring and think (in your dreams), "Would someone please stop that terrible noise????" and then, you guessed it, you wake up to find out it was you!!!!????

So, in 2014 I went to an ENT who said I had a severely deviated septum. He estimated my nasal passages were 95% blocked. So I underwent surgery to fix this and the snoring. The result? I breathe better now than I ever have in my life, better than I dreamed possible.  I still snore.

Last summer I decided I needed to get this taken care of and went to a sleep doctor who wanted to do a sleep test. (Insurance decreed that, of course, I did not need to have one in the hospital. An at-home test would do just fine.) Well, that test showed I had mild sleep apnea--I stopped breathing about 60 times per night (you get about 30 "free" stopping breathing episodes per night.) So we (like how I say "we"--I mean ME) joined the ranks of the CPAP-ers. I have a high-tech machine with a long tube and little "pillows" (I think that is a dumb thing to call them, but that's what THEY call them.) that plug my nose and blow air up there all night long, thus keeping the airway open. And, I stopped snoring!!! YAY!!!

I went to my follow-up appointment after a month singing the praises of the CPAP. I didn't have to get up to potty as much at night. Loy stayed in bed all night long. He says I don't make a peep.  BUT there is an assessment:  How likely would you be to fall asleep while reading a book? How likely would you be to fall asleep while riding in a car? How likely would you be to fall asleep if you laid down after lunch? Etc. The doctor asked all these questions and my answer was pretty much, "Very likely." To all of them. "Hmmmm. You are still VERY sleepy." He decided that it may just be taking awhile for my body to get used to all this good sleep, so told me to come back in three months.

Three months...same questions...same answers. I am always tired.

He thought he knew what I had, a rare condition called "persistent hypersomnalism." I looked it up. That means you are sleepy. But, we need to rule out other things, which can only be done with an in hospital sleep study. Which happened last night.

I arrived at 8:00 p.m. and Brad hooked me up with about 15 electrodes. They were all over my face, my legs, my chest, my hair. (I sensed Brad was very attracted to me, but I just kept mentioning my HUSBAND. :)  )  I turned out the light around 10:30 and Brad only had to come in one time to reattach a leg electrode which came off. At 6:30 AM the speaker said..."Kitt. Time to wake up." I do not wake up well at 6:30 AM. Brad was kind of annoying at 6:30 AM.

Then I had a nap study, which meant I had to stay awake for 2 hours, then  lay down and take a nap five times during the day. I could read or watch TV or walk the halls (looking Frankenstein-esque) in between the naps, as long as I did not get in the bed. The bad part was that they woke me up after 20 minutes or so. You just get into a good sleep and that darned speaker..."Kitt. Time to wake up."

He said I'm an excellent sleeper and they got really good information. I have no clue what that means.

I'm home now, awaiting results, which should be some time this month. I'll let you know what is decided. Maybe I'm just a lazy person who likes to sleep. I don't know.

I just thought you should know the joys of the sleep study.

Kitt.