Post 71 - The End Of A Busy Week

As mentioned in Blog entry #68, this week was chock-full of doctor visits, catheter changes, and assorted tests.  Everything was going along predictably until Wednesday night when the Sleep Study was held.

First, a little bit of history; the Sleep Study was ordered by my latest physician, a pulmonologist, whose technician performed what turned-out to be a normal Lung Function test a few days earlier. 

Next, the only test remaining which might determine the course of treatment for those nights when I act out or make strange noises is the innocent-sounding Sleep Study.

I appeared exactly as directed at 8:30 PM at the testing site, which happened to be at the rear of the doctor’s exam complex. The room looked reasonably comfortable.  Fran, my wife, caretaker and chauffer, accompanied me as well, in case my suprapubic catheter, or me, in general, needed attention. She got to sleep in a recliner while I, the subject, slept, or tried to sleep in a Murphy Bed-like set up.

We were met by a helpful technician who immediately hooked me up to twenty-four EKG-like sensors from the bottom of my legs to the top of my head and then tells me to “go to sleep.” It reminded me of a trip to the dentist where your mouth gets stuffed with about ten tubes and the dentist wants to carry on a conversation.  How does he expect me to fall asleep all wired up like this?

Both of us must have eventually fallen asleep because the technician sticks his head in the door to announce its six o’clock and time to get up.  He then proceeds to remove the twenty-four sensors, leaving behind some adhesive as a souvenir of my visit.

          It was too early for our regular breakfast spot, so we found someplace open instead.  Turns out they make pancakes the size of Frisbees.  What a strange experience!  Now I‘ll have to wait until Nov 20^th for the results.