Yawn

Friday night was my sleep study to hopefully shed some light on why I'm tired so much of the time. I knew that I'd be monitored throughout the night, but I went in figuring that the place would be set up in a way that was conducive to good sleep. My imagination had me going to a sound proof room with a tempurpedic bed and this was most certainly not the case. Not only was my bed a sad little murphy bed, but I could hear the televisions in both rooms adjoining mine. The icing on the cake was the one communal bathroom down the hall, which I visited in my pjs. I guess having had two kids at INOVA hospitals, my expectation was a large private room with a large private bathroom all to myself. All week I'd built this up in my mind. Every snore from the dog and each roll over by my husband reminded me that on Friday night I would get away from my family and probably have the best night sleep that I'd had in years. This was not the case. After getting into my pjs, visiting the bathroom, and waiting for almost an hour for a tech that I thought had possibly forgotten me, I was attacked with devices. She practically super glued five sensors into my hair, another eight on my face and neck, and four on my legs. I was given a stomach belt and a chest belt before finally having a breath sensor taped to my cheeks that held a little red loop in place over my nose and mouth. Here's a picture.

For those of you who know me, the fact that I had a cell phone with me at all is somewhat shocking, but I figured out how to use the camera just so that I could share this experience with you all. Once we get the report from the neurologist in a week or so, my thoughts might change, but right now, my advice to anyone considering a sleep study is to STAY AWAY. Stay home, sleep in your own bed, and suck it up with whatever sleep you get. It will no doubt be a thousand times better than it would be during your study. Egads.