The puzzle that is sleep
God rested on the 7th day...... now THAT is what I call stamina!
I was advised to have a sleep study done by my ENT guy.... and my GP could not have agreed more considering my inverted sleep pattern - clinically known as Circadian Rhythm Disorder, my egregious snoring and patterns of insomnia.
The day started out @ the dentist getting the REAL crown put on my tooth. The pain killers put me off the nausea meter... the crown was in, but my stomach was not. So I went home to rest before my sleep study. Sounds funny, but it's not.
Got Em set for the night, got there on time (shock of shocks) having filled out 12 sheets of a questionnaire on sleep patterns, snoring, fatigue, etc. OK. Oh, and after I checked in and before I could get properly parked the skies opened and it poured. Ah well.
There were 4 of us in the hospital on Monday... all for the same reason, with differing symptoms. My technician tried to be sweet....he really did, poor fellow. It is unnerving having someone use an emery board on your scalp to get a good connection to put on "water soluble" adhesive and electrodes. One on the forehead, one on the side of each eye, one on each side of the jaw, one at your throat and a microphone on a wire attached to two prongs taped to fit in your nostrils to measure breathing. One on the inside of each calf and ah, yes.... and the 6 electrodes in/on your scalp. Then there are two bands- one tightly around your waist with a monitor and another under your armpits and across your chest w/a monitor. Two stick um snaps on your shoulder blades and an ET pulse meter on your pointer finger.
The room was small, equipped w/a TV with about 8 channels (no, I didn't want to watch some doctor do a tonsillectomy so I skipped that one). I slept for an hour and woke up. 100%. It must have been 60 in the room with 2 thin cotton bed spreads - they could not be called legitimate blankets. I tossed, turned, watched Mr. Monk and Psych and the meditation station and shut the tube off. I had to buzz Raj to disconnect me so I could go to the bathroom.... it was that cold. He came in, unplugged things, put the monitor on a Velcro strap and let me relieve myself.... it happened 2 times, which is extremely rare. What was NOT rare is that I finally got some shut eye at about 3 am...... and his cheery voice came over the intercom @ 5am...GOOD MORNING! TIME TO WAKE UP!
I don't recall the exact words, but I believe it began with....what's so good about 2hrs sleep.... I did remember to apologize. This obviously was not the first time he had ever gotten that type of reaction.
I was home today, dysfunctional on that little amount of quality sleep.... but will be in the office tomorrow(or today, rather) early enough to put in a full day and have my mammogram done in the late afternoon. Two more work days this week. The crown (which popped off during one of the 'bite down' testing in the sleep lab) will be re-cemented on Monday morning, the ENT guy will have my sleep study results in the afternoon and Tuesday is my last working day @ the UN......
I probably will never be the morning bird Barbara is.... but maybe some day my sleeping will be closer to average people's sleep zones - it's hard to say. Perhaps only some test results and a month of retirement will reveal the possibilities! We need sleep to function properly, think clearly, regenerate cells in our bodies. Statistically over the last 20 years we have, on average, lost about 45 minutes of sleep per night... with a gu-zillion sleep deprived people trying to streak through life it's no wonder there are mistakes in judgment, on the job, behind the wheel, in relationships and general physical upkeep. Maybe we just need a good solid 8hrs a night!?
I was advised to have a sleep study done by my ENT guy.... and my GP could not have agreed more considering my inverted sleep pattern - clinically known as Circadian Rhythm Disorder, my egregious snoring and patterns of insomnia.
The day started out @ the dentist getting the REAL crown put on my tooth. The pain killers put me off the nausea meter... the crown was in, but my stomach was not. So I went home to rest before my sleep study. Sounds funny, but it's not.
Got Em set for the night, got there on time (shock of shocks) having filled out 12 sheets of a questionnaire on sleep patterns, snoring, fatigue, etc. OK. Oh, and after I checked in and before I could get properly parked the skies opened and it poured. Ah well.
There were 4 of us in the hospital on Monday... all for the same reason, with differing symptoms. My technician tried to be sweet....he really did, poor fellow. It is unnerving having someone use an emery board on your scalp to get a good connection to put on "water soluble" adhesive and electrodes. One on the forehead, one on the side of each eye, one on each side of the jaw, one at your throat and a microphone on a wire attached to two prongs taped to fit in your nostrils to measure breathing. One on the inside of each calf and ah, yes.... and the 6 electrodes in/on your scalp. Then there are two bands- one tightly around your waist with a monitor and another under your armpits and across your chest w/a monitor. Two stick um snaps on your shoulder blades and an ET pulse meter on your pointer finger.
The room was small, equipped w/a TV with about 8 channels (no, I didn't want to watch some doctor do a tonsillectomy so I skipped that one). I slept for an hour and woke up. 100%. It must have been 60 in the room with 2 thin cotton bed spreads - they could not be called legitimate blankets. I tossed, turned, watched Mr. Monk and Psych and the meditation station and shut the tube off. I had to buzz Raj to disconnect me so I could go to the bathroom.... it was that cold. He came in, unplugged things, put the monitor on a Velcro strap and let me relieve myself.... it happened 2 times, which is extremely rare. What was NOT rare is that I finally got some shut eye at about 3 am...... and his cheery voice came over the intercom @ 5am...GOOD MORNING! TIME TO WAKE UP!
I don't recall the exact words, but I believe it began with....what's so good about 2hrs sleep.... I did remember to apologize. This obviously was not the first time he had ever gotten that type of reaction.
I was home today, dysfunctional on that little amount of quality sleep.... but will be in the office tomorrow(or today, rather) early enough to put in a full day and have my mammogram done in the late afternoon. Two more work days this week. The crown (which popped off during one of the 'bite down' testing in the sleep lab) will be re-cemented on Monday morning, the ENT guy will have my sleep study results in the afternoon and Tuesday is my last working day @ the UN......
I probably will never be the morning bird Barbara is.... but maybe some day my sleeping will be closer to average people's sleep zones - it's hard to say. Perhaps only some test results and a month of retirement will reveal the possibilities! We need sleep to function properly, think clearly, regenerate cells in our bodies. Statistically over the last 20 years we have, on average, lost about 45 minutes of sleep per night... with a gu-zillion sleep deprived people trying to streak through life it's no wonder there are mistakes in judgment, on the job, behind the wheel, in relationships and general physical upkeep. Maybe we just need a good solid 8hrs a night!?
posted by Joanna Depue | 4:40 PM
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