On Friday night, I was scheduled to take a sleep study at Jefferson Hospital to diagnose my sleep apnea. So, after work, I met up with Ryan to have dinner first.
We went to a Korean place in Gay Center City called Pastoral Korean Restaurant. (It's a decent place for Korean, the food is pretty good, but I highly doubt it's Philly's best.) We started with the traditional panchan (the tofu was AWESOME),
and we both ended up ordering the bibimbap (although Ryan went vegetarian).
Ryan likes Korean.
Afterwards, we were still hungry, so we went to have MILKSHAKES!
And ICE CREAM!
Seriously, though, we were eating birthday cake ice cream from this local ice cream company called Bassett's, and it was really tasty. Better than the Cold Stone variety. I don't remember the restaurant where we had these (an Indian buffet place near 13th and Walnut), but you should check it out. They also had other good-looking flavors.
Anyway, after waiting a while, it was time to head over to the hospital. Ryan could come inside with me so he did. We waited in the waiting room and then they lead us to the room I'd be sleeping in. I was surprised.
It was like a mini hotel room! I had my own TV and bathroom and everything. Ryan hung out for a while and watched Wife Swap.
Then, the technician came to hook me up, and Ryan left to catch his train.
So, when I think of sleep studies, I automatically remember the scene in Home Movies where McGuirk has to get a sleep study done.
Lemme' tell ya, it's not that much different from the real thing.
You expect me to sleep with this on?
Really?
Really?
Well, at least my wires are colorful. That's my silver lining.
Anyway, before I went to bed they actually added more crap to my face (nostril and mouth air sensors) and a heart rate sensor on my finger. And then they said, "Goodnight." Right.
I will spare you the details, but long story short, I had a predictably crappy night's sleep. Maybe it was performance anxiety, or sleeping in a strange bed, or self-sabotage, or maybe... I don't know... THE FUCKING WIRES ATTACHED TO MY FACE. I don't even know how much I slept, but I tossed and turned for a long while. I know I did sleep, although I don't remember any dreams, so I don't know how deeply I slept. It's entirely possible that they didn't find anything conclusive and are going to have to make me do this again.
There was a situation that gave me pause, though.
After a zillion hours of tossing and turning, I had finally fallen asleep (I'm not sure for how long), and at some point my technician suddenly came into the room to wake me. "I have to take your blood pressure." "Okay..." I said groggily. She took my blood pressure and then tried to take my pulse, mumbled something about it being too weak for her to find, and then left. A minute later a nurse came:
Nurse: Were you having some hot dreams about your boyfriend?
Me: Huh? What's going on...?
Nurse: Oh, nothing. Your heart rate just went up a little bit for a second.
(Thinking: What the hell is the medical definition of "a little bit" and "a second"?! Instead:)
Me: ...oh.
Nurse: I'm sure you were dreaming.
(Thinking: Wouldn't you know that from looking at the data my head is putting out? Instead:)
Me: ...yeah.
Eventually, the nurse pronounced me "fine" and left me to go back to my broken sleep, with no explanation of what actually happened. So, considering that after that incident I was afraid I was having heart attacks in my sleep, the rest of my night was just as turbulent.
My techinician woke me at 5:50 in the morning (as I had gone to "sleep" at 9:50 last night) and I was not a happy camper.
But at least they gave me free breakfast -- holy crap, is that star fruit?!
It wasn't memorably tasty, but it wasn't bad. Still... first time I've seen star fruit in a fruit plate.
So I signed some paperwork, had the technician ominously tell me that I should keep the forms, becuase I "might be back soon", and then went to the train station. Since I had half an hour to kill before my train arrived and I needed something to keep me from falling asleep, I fiddled around with color accents.
Then I went home, hugged my boyfriend and my cats, regaled them with pretty much this same tale, and then fell asleep for about three and a half hours.
I guess the lesson I've learned from this is: To ensure a successful sleep study, make sure you get an awful night of sleep the night before.
EDIT: Since I sort of wanted to use this post as an informational guide if you're planning to have a sleep study, I should mention what to expect in terms of the wires.
Here is what will be attached to you:
2 wires in the back of your head
2 wires on the top of your head
2 wires on your forehead, 1 one each of your temples
2 REM Sleep wires, 1 near each eye
3 wires on your chin
1 wire under your chin
2 wires, 1 on each shoulder
1 wire on your chest
1 heart rate monitor thing on your finger
4 Restless Leg Syndrome wires, 2 on each leg
1 wire placed on your upper lip, to test apnea (or general mouth-breathing)
1 of those nose things that generally pump oxygen into you, except it's used to monitor nose-breathing
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22 wires in total
The box that the colorful wires are attached to is attached to a machine next to your head. The wires aren't very long and they'll lay next to you on the bed along with the box.
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