aware of this bad habit (which isn't really a habit, b/c i can't control it), my internist referred me to a sleep specialist- who knew there was even such a job?! the first order of business was to take a sleep test, but the earliest appt was in April. after being teased with a solution to my zombie state, that was almost cruel! i pleaded a bit with the scheduler, and she mentioned they were having trouble getting ahold of thursday night's patient. apparently the phone # was disconnected or something- i was put on "standby" and told to have a bag packed. (i felt like like i was having a baby or receiving an organ transplant!) i got the call at 8pm on thursday evening to come out to geisinger (oh, good old geisinger, you've missed hearing me talk about that place, haven't you?), so we rushed over.
so this is what went down on thursday night. but before i let you in on the intimate details, allow me to briefly pontificate upon this premise. i'm having the test done b/c i have a severe sleep disturbance. so the techs and doctors are going to analyze my sleep overnight, monitoring my oxygen level, limb movement, heart rate and pulse, by hooking me up to hundreds of electrodes and videotaping my slumber. there i am, with an oxygen tube up my nose, wires superglued to my head and around my face (not to mention on various other places on my body), and i'm supposed to "sleep exactly like you would at home!" gee, this is totally how i'd prefer to sleep, as a human motherboard of blinking and beeping lights!my "bedroom" was the same size as a normal hospital room, but there was a sofa, armchair, desk, and full bathroom with walk in shower. the bed, thank god, didn't have those horrible hospital bedrails, and was even a double! the best part of this gig was a beautiful flat screen tv mounted against the wall, and the bed had a fancy remote control to raise up/down, even a "back massage" button. (that feature was more like a porn star vibrating bed than a back massage- not that i have been in a porn star bed, but that's what i think it would look like! hah!) it felt like a bit like summer camp- "lights out" was at 11pm on the dot, and they weren't joking around! i tried to plead my case with the nurse/tech, explaining that i have bad insomnia and could i maybe read or watch tv until i fell asleep. she wasn't having any of it, but by 2am and i was still wide awake, she started to believe 
me. i wound up catching a few hours of sleep here and there, but at 5am i couldn't take it anymore. i think she had taken pity on my by this point, and i was "allowed" to officially wake up. i turned on the news while she started the laborious process of extracting the endless wires from my hair, which felt like they had been superglued to my scalp. it was not a pretty picture when was all said and done. (imagine a scene similar to "something about mary", the one with the hair gel... yep.)
me. i wound up catching a few hours of sleep here and there, but at 5am i couldn't take it anymore. i think she had taken pity on my by this point, and i was "allowed" to officially wake up. i turned on the news while she started the laborious process of extracting the endless wires from my hair, which felt like they had been superglued to my scalp. it was not a pretty picture when was all said and done. (imagine a scene similar to "something about mary", the one with the hair gel... yep.) around 7:30, one of the doctors from the sleep center (a neurologist) came in to review the tests taken during my sleep study. i wasn't entirely surprised with the findings- there isn't any serious problems with my oxygen intake, or evidence of overnight seizures, or sleep apnea. i never went into REM state of sleep, which is indicative of insomnia, but yet again, i wasn't surprised with this finding either. he was super smiley, and we had a lovely chat about the various elements that influence sleep (being a neurologist and familiar with ms, he was gracious as i slurred and stuttered my way through our conversation). now that we have the hard data from the study, he seemed very confident that my sleep doctor could work with me to eliminate the insomnia. to be honest, i'm skeptical, but willing to give it a shot.
i have to say- i'm thrilled that i didn't have to wait until april to do this ridiculous stunt. (i'm even willing to go so far as to say i've had a better night sleep on the floor of someone's dorm room!) i'll keep you posted, but here's one easy way to keep tabs on my progress- check the time stamp of my emails! hah.
remember, you can view these postings directly on kit katchat's blog
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