June 30, 2007 - I GOT MY DATE!

Jun 30, 2007

August 20, 2007. I can't wait to begin my new life!  We did have to reschedule our trip to Las Vegas, as we were planning on going August 26. I rebooked it for  December and I'm so fine with that. Vegas in the summer is, to me, a nightmare, anyway. Also, I'll be thinner and more comfortable. I really can't wait for all this...

I keep wondering what I'm going to look like as I lose the weight. I can't picture how I'm going to look.



The sleep studies...

Jun 24, 2007

Okay, well I did the sleep studies.  I had two – one to determine if I had sleep apnea and then the second one to determine, well, I don’t know, whatever it is they need to determine to fit you with the CPAP machine.

 

 

 

I’d rather do an upper GI than do these again.

 

 

 

Both times, the sleep studies were done at  a Marriott hotel near the hospital.  I checked in and the technician, who was super nice, had my husband and I watch an informational video. When that was over, I changed into my jammies, which for this study, was a pair of capri leggings and a big tshirt. 

 

 

 

The tech had the wires and leads all laid out on the bed. It took him about 30 minutes to get me all hooked up. There were leads on my legs, my chest, my face and on my scalp. I made the mistake of looking at myself in the mirror and was horrified at what I saw. I looked like a mutant. My husband and I had a good laugh about it. After that, my husband stayed with me for a while. The tech told me that “lights out” were at 11PM.  I watched TV and at 10:45 the tech came in to hook me up to the machine that would transmit to him in the control room. This was one of the worst nights of my life (or so I thought until I did the second part of the test).  I laid there until at least 1AM. I couldn’t sleep. I am so used to sleeping with a TV on that just laying there in total darkness and quiet was new to me. I guess I finally fell asleep, because the tech came in when I knocked the lead off of my leg. I honestly didn’t think I had sleep apnea and said half joking, “so did I stop breathing?” and in a very straight face, he said, “why yes, you did, quite a lot” and then he started talking about hypopneas and that’s when I started to freak out.  I woke up on my own about 5AM nd he came in at 5:45 to unhook everything and I was on my way.

 

 

 

I had the follow-up with the pulmonary doctor on June 12.  I adore this doctor. He’s very cool and personable. The kind of guy you’d want to date or set one of your girlfriends up with. Anyway, he said my numbers were pretty crappy (he actually said something else which is not very nice) and that the home health agency would call me to get the CPAP to me.  He explained that I stopped breathing, on average, 23 times an hour for about 18 seconds at a time. I slept that night for 276 minutes total. He explained that I would have to do a second sleep study so they could determine what kind of oxygen levels I’d need for the CPAP. He said he was clearing me (YAY!) for the surgery but that I would have to bring the machine to the hospital when I had the surgery. 

 

 

 

I took the next available sleep study appointment which was two days later. I can honestly say that this was the worst night of my life.

 

 

 

The tech hooked me up and showed me the different  masks that were available. She wanted me to sit up for a while with them on so that I would be able to sleep (yeah right) when the lights were turned out at 11. It was hard getting used to something up right up under my nose (I didn’t want the mask) and pushing air into my nostrils.  She had me lay in bed with it for about 45 minutes. She told me NOT to breathe through my mouth at all. I found this to be very difficult and got really upset every time she “caught” me and told me not to. I really didn’t think I was going to be able to do it and I actually started to tear up and felt like I was hyperventilating. After about 30 minutes I was okay. DH left and I took off the mask and sat on the couch and watched TV and talked on the phone until 10:45.

 

 

 

She came in, hooked me up and told to have a good night. Who the hell was she kidding? It was beyond terrible.  As you know, they’re watching you, so they can see every single thing you do. Every time I opened my mouth to breathe, and believe me, I tried soooooooooooo hard not to, that creep buzzed in and told me to stop. I was getting upset and annoyed and I told her I wasn’t doing it on purpose and that I found it very hard to breathe just through my nose. Then she buzzed back in and said that if I didn’t stop, she would attach some contraption that would keep my mouth shut. I was so mad, I really wanted to unhook  myself and shove the machine up her you know what. I calmed myself down and turned over on my side and kind of puffed the blanket up a bit so she couldn’t see me.  I fell asleep somewhere around 1:30 and she came in at 5:30 and unhooked me.

 

 

 

Like I said earlier, I’d rather have an upper GI that go through this again.


About Me
Coral Springs, FL
Location
32.9
BMI
VSG
Surgery
08/20/2007
Surgery Date
Mar 21, 2007
Member Since

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June 30, 2007 - I GOT MY DATE!
The sleep studies...

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