I think I might have jinxed myself when I told everyone about all my testing. Things have been going really fast and appointments have been going very well. Until last Thursday. I had to go for my sleep study. What is so hard about going to sleep? You go to bed everynight,fall asleep relatively quickly and wake up a new person. RIGHT? well most of the time.
I went to the sleep lab with my bag of nighttime stuff, nightgown, toothbrush, book and went in to the lab already tired. I think this going to be a piece of cake, everyone who has had the surgery has to do and they make it through.
The techs ask what time do I want to go to bed and then they'd give me a ten minute heads up so they can hook me up to the wires. I watched the Big Brother eviction and then a little after 9:00 they say it is time for me to get ready for bed. So I head down the brightly lit hallways to the bathroom and get ready.
The techs rub goop on my head and one by one wire up this box that will check to see if I have sleep apnea. No problems so far and I get into bed. That is when they say you have to put a nasal oxygen tube in your nose and wire that goes between the nose and mouth. I can feel the panic starting. I don't like things touching my face and this was starting a mild panic attack inside my brain.
I lay down and know this is going to be harder than I thought. I am not a back sleeper at all and now my brain is racing with I just wanted to get this over with and move on. "Sheri you need to go to sleep,Sheri you have to go to sleep" was running through my head. I tried deep breathing, praying to God to help me get through this. Nothing is working. I ask to put on the tv which I fall asleep to at home.
I got to the bathroom down the hall. I try again, no sleep is coming, the mind is on a loop of panic, I can't breathe with this stupid thing up my nose and I have to do this.
Four trips to the bathroom and not falling asleep at ALL. At 4:30 they say I can go home and we'd try again some other day. I cried part of the way home was weepy the rest of the day. The doctor calls and tells me not to worry they'd give me ambien next time and I should fall asleep.
Now is the waiting game of hoping a cancellation happens so I can do the test again. The lack of not knowing when or if I am going to get the phone call soon to have the test again is making me anxious.
So as things stay now I still have to pass the psych. eval and sleep test.
