Borg and ET
Well, I think this is going to be shortest bloggy hiatus ever. Think there’s a record going for it?
I wanted to share what it’s like to be a Borg and ET all in one. ET was one of my favorite movies when I was a little girl.
Greg, wonderful man that he is, took me to the place last night where the sleep study would be conducted. He walked into the building and when we went into the room where I was going to hopefully sleep… we were both shocked.
Greg said, “When I had my sleep study, the room was very clinical. This is better than a hotel room!” It was homey, with a pretty comforter, nightstands, dresser with candles on it, flat screen TV, pictures on the wall; it was soothing - very nicely decorated. I asked the sleep tech about the decorations and she said that they bought everything from Rooms To Go – they liked the complete setup and bought everything. Believe it or not, having it like that made a difference. It gave me a sense of peace.
The technician, Kathy, asked if Greg would be picking me up in the morning, which we confirmed. She said, “The study ends at 5am. I’ll wake her up at 5am and she should be calling you around 5:15. The only time I wouldn’t wake her is if she is in REM sleep, because the doctors don’t want to disturb REM (Rapid Eye Movement).”
Greg left and my Borg shift took place. She stuck a bunch of probes in my hair, on my chest, on my legs, under and to the side of my eyes and on my chin and two straps across my chest and lower stomach. The last piece was the most uncomfortable – the thing that goes slightly into the nose. It tickled at first. Kathy said, “I always leave that piece for last, because if I did it first, people wouldn’t want to do the sleep study..”
Kathy explained that the doctor would be able to read the test results and see how much oxygen I was taking in (from the two straps, it would measure the increase/decrease in breath taken and as well from the piece in the nose.) After I was Borged up, she had me do different things to make sure everything was working properly – such as blink 5 times, flex my feet 5 times (the feet thingies would check for restless leg syndrome), cough 3 times, look to the right and left with my eyes only (keeping head straight) and look up and down with eyes only – I’m assuming this is to make sure it’s working to find REM movement.
I really liked Kathy! She a maternal type attitude, soft spoken and a willingness to make you want to be comfortable that made the experience bearable.
When Greg came home from his sleep study, about 2 years ago, he was a bear! He said it was a miserable experience and was grumpy all the next day. Needless to say, I was figuring I would be the same. I’m not a nice person when I can’t sleep.
Before Kathy said lights out, she put an attachment to the tip of my index finger on my right hand. If I needed assistance or had to get up to go to the bathroom, I had to follow the cord attached to the finger and unplug it. This way she would know to come into the room. I looked at my finger and it was glowing red. “ET Phone Home.” Hehe. Good thing Kathy has a sense of humor, she laughed about it too.
Did I sleep? I’m not one who sleeps on my back – it’s either on my side or stomach. For the sleep study, they prefer you to sleep on your back because if you have sleep apnea, it will be more pronounced. I tried as long as I could to stay in that position.
At one point I drifted into a very light sleep, then I felt my body jerk awake. I don’t remember what I dreamt, but I did have a nice dream, short, but nice. Within seconds, I heard Kathy open the door and she asked if I was OK. She said that she knew I had woken up suddenly from the response on the report. I said I was Ok and she said, “The report is looking very pretty. Everything was lighting up very nicely.” I thought that was a funny thing to say; it made me smile. Then she said, “I made coffee and was afraid the smell might have woken you up.” I replied, “I didn’t smell coffee, but I thought I smelled pancakes.” She laughed and said, “No pancakes. I’ll have to make sure you don’t sleep walk to the smell of food.”
I tried to go back to sleep but I was shifting right to left with my head and trying to keep my body still. I kept thinking, “I can’t sleep on my back, but I have to stay like this but if I stay like this, I can’t sleep.” Ugh. Kathy came into the room and said, “It’s better that you get some type of sleep than no sleep, so go ahead and sleep on your side.” She brought me another blanket. How did she know I was cold, could the test show that..?
I did finally get some sleep on my side. I had a nightmare. I can’t remember what it was about, but it definitely wasn’t pleasant. Then I dreamt… that I woke up. I can’t stand those types of dreams. Where you think you woke up, but you are still asleep. Anyway, I dreamt that Kathy came into the room and said that I had to fill out a bunch of papers and suddenly there was a pen in my hand. In my dream I thought, “That’s not right.” I think I woke up in reality at that point.
This time, I had to go to the bathroom. Are you wondering how a Borg pees? Well, like any human being, but you have to carry an arm full of wires and box and you hope that it doesn’t drop while in the bathroom! It’s doable but not the easiest thing in the world. Lol.
I went back to sleep for a little while off and on. Got up another time to go to the bathroom and I asked what time it was. Kathy said it was 4 o’clock and that it wouldn’t be long before the test was over with. I figured I’d just sit in bed and wait it out for another hour.
The next thing I know, I’m off in la-la land and Kathy came into the room saying, “It’s 6 am.” What? Really? Kathy said, “You went into REM sleep at 10 minutes to 5. Do you want to call your husband?”
My poor honey was outside of the building waiting for me. My Mom had even called at 5:20 to see how I was doing and he told her that he didn’t want to call me because the only reason we wouldn’t call in the morning was if I was in REM sleep.
I’ll say this – I felt a LOT better after the REM sleep. It really does make a difference. All in all, I’d tell people - go get the sleep study done if you have concerns. It’s not the most comfortable thing to do but if you’re fortunate enough like I was with the accommodations and with the technician I had, then it’s not such a horrible experience.
Kathy said this was the longest sleep study she has conducted, because we got there a little early and her other sleep study client didn’t show, so she had more time with me and then I went into REM sleep for an hour longer than a normal study. Needless to say, the docs will have a good sample of my sleep to base their findings on.
Definitely an interesting experience. I’m glad to be home now. I won’t know the results of the sleep study for about 2 weeks. What a cool job that must be, to look at sleep patterns, eye movement, etc.
Oh and I might have mentioned I have high blood pressure. Some mornings I wake up with headaches. Kathy said that if I have sleep apnea, when I stop breathing during sleep it raises the blood pressure – hence the headaches. I also watched a video prior to sleeping that showed what happens and it mentioned that hypothyroidism can be a culprit of sleep apnea as well.. which, I have too. I’m glad Greg talked me into doing the sleep test. Thank you, Sweetheart. I love you! XOXO
I’m not going to reread what I just wrote. I’m awake enough to write it, but I didn’t get enough sleep to edit – my bad . Borg & ET out. :)
I wanted to share what it’s like to be a Borg and ET all in one. ET was one of my favorite movies when I was a little girl.
Greg, wonderful man that he is, took me to the place last night where the sleep study would be conducted. He walked into the building and when we went into the room where I was going to hopefully sleep… we were both shocked.
Greg said, “When I had my sleep study, the room was very clinical. This is better than a hotel room!” It was homey, with a pretty comforter, nightstands, dresser with candles on it, flat screen TV, pictures on the wall; it was soothing - very nicely decorated. I asked the sleep tech about the decorations and she said that they bought everything from Rooms To Go – they liked the complete setup and bought everything. Believe it or not, having it like that made a difference. It gave me a sense of peace.
The technician, Kathy, asked if Greg would be picking me up in the morning, which we confirmed. She said, “The study ends at 5am. I’ll wake her up at 5am and she should be calling you around 5:15. The only time I wouldn’t wake her is if she is in REM sleep, because the doctors don’t want to disturb REM (Rapid Eye Movement).”
Greg left and my Borg shift took place. She stuck a bunch of probes in my hair, on my chest, on my legs, under and to the side of my eyes and on my chin and two straps across my chest and lower stomach. The last piece was the most uncomfortable – the thing that goes slightly into the nose. It tickled at first. Kathy said, “I always leave that piece for last, because if I did it first, people wouldn’t want to do the sleep study..”
Kathy explained that the doctor would be able to read the test results and see how much oxygen I was taking in (from the two straps, it would measure the increase/decrease in breath taken and as well from the piece in the nose.) After I was Borged up, she had me do different things to make sure everything was working properly – such as blink 5 times, flex my feet 5 times (the feet thingies would check for restless leg syndrome), cough 3 times, look to the right and left with my eyes only (keeping head straight) and look up and down with eyes only – I’m assuming this is to make sure it’s working to find REM movement.
I really liked Kathy! She a maternal type attitude, soft spoken and a willingness to make you want to be comfortable that made the experience bearable.
When Greg came home from his sleep study, about 2 years ago, he was a bear! He said it was a miserable experience and was grumpy all the next day. Needless to say, I was figuring I would be the same. I’m not a nice person when I can’t sleep.
Before Kathy said lights out, she put an attachment to the tip of my index finger on my right hand. If I needed assistance or had to get up to go to the bathroom, I had to follow the cord attached to the finger and unplug it. This way she would know to come into the room. I looked at my finger and it was glowing red. “ET Phone Home.” Hehe. Good thing Kathy has a sense of humor, she laughed about it too.
Did I sleep? I’m not one who sleeps on my back – it’s either on my side or stomach. For the sleep study, they prefer you to sleep on your back because if you have sleep apnea, it will be more pronounced. I tried as long as I could to stay in that position.
At one point I drifted into a very light sleep, then I felt my body jerk awake. I don’t remember what I dreamt, but I did have a nice dream, short, but nice. Within seconds, I heard Kathy open the door and she asked if I was OK. She said that she knew I had woken up suddenly from the response on the report. I said I was Ok and she said, “The report is looking very pretty. Everything was lighting up very nicely.” I thought that was a funny thing to say; it made me smile. Then she said, “I made coffee and was afraid the smell might have woken you up.” I replied, “I didn’t smell coffee, but I thought I smelled pancakes.” She laughed and said, “No pancakes. I’ll have to make sure you don’t sleep walk to the smell of food.”
I tried to go back to sleep but I was shifting right to left with my head and trying to keep my body still. I kept thinking, “I can’t sleep on my back, but I have to stay like this but if I stay like this, I can’t sleep.” Ugh. Kathy came into the room and said, “It’s better that you get some type of sleep than no sleep, so go ahead and sleep on your side.” She brought me another blanket. How did she know I was cold, could the test show that..?
I did finally get some sleep on my side. I had a nightmare. I can’t remember what it was about, but it definitely wasn’t pleasant. Then I dreamt… that I woke up. I can’t stand those types of dreams. Where you think you woke up, but you are still asleep. Anyway, I dreamt that Kathy came into the room and said that I had to fill out a bunch of papers and suddenly there was a pen in my hand. In my dream I thought, “That’s not right.” I think I woke up in reality at that point.
This time, I had to go to the bathroom. Are you wondering how a Borg pees? Well, like any human being, but you have to carry an arm full of wires and box and you hope that it doesn’t drop while in the bathroom! It’s doable but not the easiest thing in the world. Lol.
I went back to sleep for a little while off and on. Got up another time to go to the bathroom and I asked what time it was. Kathy said it was 4 o’clock and that it wouldn’t be long before the test was over with. I figured I’d just sit in bed and wait it out for another hour.
The next thing I know, I’m off in la-la land and Kathy came into the room saying, “It’s 6 am.” What? Really? Kathy said, “You went into REM sleep at 10 minutes to 5. Do you want to call your husband?”
My poor honey was outside of the building waiting for me. My Mom had even called at 5:20 to see how I was doing and he told her that he didn’t want to call me because the only reason we wouldn’t call in the morning was if I was in REM sleep.
I’ll say this – I felt a LOT better after the REM sleep. It really does make a difference. All in all, I’d tell people - go get the sleep study done if you have concerns. It’s not the most comfortable thing to do but if you’re fortunate enough like I was with the accommodations and with the technician I had, then it’s not such a horrible experience.
Kathy said this was the longest sleep study she has conducted, because we got there a little early and her other sleep study client didn’t show, so she had more time with me and then I went into REM sleep for an hour longer than a normal study. Needless to say, the docs will have a good sample of my sleep to base their findings on.
Definitely an interesting experience. I’m glad to be home now. I won’t know the results of the sleep study for about 2 weeks. What a cool job that must be, to look at sleep patterns, eye movement, etc.
Oh and I might have mentioned I have high blood pressure. Some mornings I wake up with headaches. Kathy said that if I have sleep apnea, when I stop breathing during sleep it raises the blood pressure – hence the headaches. I also watched a video prior to sleeping that showed what happens and it mentioned that hypothyroidism can be a culprit of sleep apnea as well.. which, I have too. I’m glad Greg talked me into doing the sleep test. Thank you, Sweetheart. I love you! XOXO
I’m not going to reread what I just wrote. I’m awake enough to write it, but I didn’t get enough sleep to edit – my bad . Borg & ET out. :)
Comments
Thanks for sharing.
jj