People watching me sleep -- Creeps me out!

So, Wednesday night I took my first sleep study and hopefully my last! It was an interesting experience, but just the thought of someone watching me sleep creeps me out. It even bugs me when Dozer, our huge dog, stares at me while I'm sleeping.

First of all, they tell you to arrive at 7:00, I'm thinking, "Why?" I spent three hours in a room with a bed and a little 12 inch TV waiting to be hooked up for this study. Fortunately, I brought my knitting to keep me occupied. At 10:00, the tech comes into the room and starts attaching 18 wires to my body and scalp. I think 14 of these where attached to my head and face. She puts this goo stuff all in my hair to attach these leads. YUCK! Then she puts all this stuff in my nose and mouth to magnify the sound of my snoring. Now isn't that a pleasant thought, let's make the snoring loader....

So, after this, I'm suppose to sleep, on my back. I normally sleep on my tummy and side. So, I take this sleeping pill to help me sleep. Because sleeping on my own would be impossible. I have all they gadgets attached to my body, someone is watching me, and I'm suppose to sleep on my back and an extremely uncomfortable bed. Fortunately the pill works... only to well.. Once I got up and going, I realized that I had thus HUGE hang over feeling. When I got into the office, I was slurring my words and God must have sent a special angel to make sure I and everyone around me was safe in my travels of going home, showering, taking Theo to the bus and going to work.

I will find out next week, the results of the sleep study. Hopefully sleep apnea was negative and I can continue my quest for my surgery without any further detours.

So, do I really stop breathing while I sleep?

So, as one of the prerequist to getting my lapband surgery I have to have a sleep study. I met with the doctor yeasterday. One good thing, is that this doctor actually understands and treats Restless Leg Syndrome. So, I am hoping that he can help me to have a normal life when it comes to the pain in my legs that haunts me in the evenings and before I go to sleep.

He wants to me to do the sleep study, because it is possible that I have sleep apnea. I sure hope I don't.... because this will delay when I can get my surgery done. I go in for the sleep study on the 18, then it takes a week for the results. Then I would have to go in for another sleep study, then I would have to use the C-PAP machine for several weeks before I could have the surgery. Only to loose weight and not have to have the C-PAP machine. Seems like a vicious circle to me. Oh well. We will see.

I see the nutritionist tomorrow and the psychologist on March 31. Hopefully she doesn't say I'm crazy and can't have the surgery. :)

I'm praying that the sleep study is negative, so that I don't have to take this detour in my journey.

My Consultation Appointment

My husband and I went to see Dr. Clinch this morning. We discussed my options and he went over the pros and cons of the lapband surgery. He said that he recommended that I have a sleep study done to rule out any sleep apnea plus I will need to meet with a nutritionist and a psychologist. When I got back into the office, I was able to make all my appointments for the next two weeks. My appointment with the sleep specialist is only a consultation. So, I'm not sure how soon I can get the actual study done.

One of the things Dr. Clinch emphasised is that the lapband is a tool. Diet and exercise is still necessary. I believe that with this tool, I will be successful. The problem in the past is that I would loose a bit of weight only to get discouraged, because it stopped coming off and then I would stop trying, because I was discouraged and then the vicious cycle would start all over again. I would gain back the lost weight plus some, diet again, get discouraged, stop dieting gain back the weight and so on and so on.

I am excited about the prospect of breaking this cycle!