It's Been a Long Time

My, oh my.  It has definitely been a long time since I've blogged.  It's not that I haven't thought about it but just too lazy to write or other things, like life, got in the way.  Where to begin....

On December 19, 2013 I had the labrum of my left hip repaired.  I had been experiencing pain for over eight months until I finally went to my primary doctor.  I got an X-ray which didn't show anything, and a referral to the orthopedic doctor.  The ortho doctor requested an MRI with contrast and a steroid shot in the hip to help diagnose what was going on.  The steroid shot, if the pain went away, meant that the problem was in the hip.  It didn't do squat.  The MRI, however, showed something different, and that was the problem:  the labrum was shredded.  Dr. Jackson, my orthopedic doctor, said that he would do one of three things when he operated on me: 

1. He would repair the labrum.
2. He would get a cadaver labrum and replace mine.
3. He would do nothing at all.

Needless to say he was able to repair it.  Since it was outpatient, I got to go home that afternoon.  My best friend was taking care of me and she brought her two pups with her since no one at home was able to take care of them.  Long story short, my two girl dogs got into a fight that evening, my left pinky was bit three times by Lily, I had 9 stitches in the pinky which then got infected which meant I had a hospital stay of 5 days to get IV antibiotics.  Not a happy camper in December.  The tip of my finger is broken and there's a bump on the right side of the tip.  The break jutted the bone to the right, hence the bump.

Okay, enough about that.  Seriously, drama drama drama.  Done with it!

Lately I have been thinking about my father.  I am missing him so much that my heart hurts.  I can't believe in a month it will be four years since he passed away.  Four years!   I was remembering the other day when Mama was alive and it was the anniversary of her mother's death.  She would say the same thing as I that the years go by so fast and the memories are as clear of our loved ones death just as if it happened yesterday.  

I was thinking that it was four years ago that Daddy was starting his decline.  The coughing was becoming more and more and he was getting shortness of breath.  He was just beginning his life here in Tallahassee and it's such a shame that he didn't get to enjoy it.  I would run errands with him on my day off from work and we would enjoy each other's company.  I miss that, a lot.  

When Daddy was at Hospice, I would look out his window and see the birds at the feeder.  Cardinals were there happily eating the seed and the squirrels, too, after they shooed away the birds.  But the cardinals, the male cardinals with their vibrant red color and the black accentuating the brightness of the red, they were gorgeous.  So now, when I see a male cardinal, I think of my father.  Maybe it's Daddy fulfilling my wish that if he's okay he will send a cardinal my way.  I saw one this morning.  

I just hope that he and Mama are having a good time, wherever they are.  It's hard to not have a parent any more to speak with.  I still want to pick up the phone and call either my mom or dad just to talk about whatever is going on in our lives and shoot the breeze.  I guess I can, in my heart.

The Sleep Study

I had a sleep study last night because my pulmonary doctor was concerned by my overnight pulse ox numbers (lowest reading was 81).  So I went last night to have it done, not knowing really what to expect or if I was even going to sleep well.

I had not slept well for the past couple of nights because if I don't take a sleeping pill I won't sleep or won't sleep well.  I figured with that plus a sleeping pill I'd be able to give what they wanted at the sleep center.  It was successful.

Since I pre-registered, which is highly recommended, I was ushered to my room right away.  In fact, there were four of us taken at the same time.  The room looked just like a hotel room but it had electrodes laying on the bed and the TV was a 19-incher.  There was a fan in case one got warm but it was cool enough that I didn't use it, well, just yet.

The tech, Jenna, was an absolute sweetheart.  She had a patient to hook up before me so I went ahead and got into my night clothes, turned on the TV to Long Island Medium, and played on my phone.  About 45 minutes later she was ready to hook me up to the machinery.

Jenna asked that I sit in the chair while she measure my head and neck.  I didn't know that there were that many ways to measure your head but there are.  She also marked my head with a pen to know where to put the wires.  The gel was cold when she put it on my legs, left side of my body, and all over my head, and a few on my neck.  She did press kind of hard to make the wires stay put.  Then the belt was put around my tummy to measure my breaths and one put around my chest to measure my heart rate.  She put a cannula on me because that measures my breathing through my nose.  The pulse ox apparatus was put on my finger and I was all set to go!

I took my sleeping pill before she started and by the time I got to bed I was feeling its effect.  I recommend you take a sleeping aid because you won't sleep well without it.   I was just about to drift off when I hear Jenna's voice over the intercom letting me know it's time to test out to make sure the leads were doing their job.  Five minutes later I was good to go so let sleep begin.

It didn't.  It waited a good half hour or so before I was drifting in and out of sleep.  The TV was on a timer but I was ready to shut it off for the night.  Once it was quiet I fell asleep until I woke myself up snoring.  I did that three times until I told myself to turn on my side the best I could.  I fell right to sleep until Jenna came into my room to flip over my pillow and put on the fan.  It seems I was warm and  the sensors need for me to not be so hot.  Heh, didn't know I was that hot.  ;)  I was pretty much cold the rest of the night but I'd rather be cuddled with the blankets than throwing them off because I'm sweating.

They also filmed me while asleep so I just prayed that I didn't do anything funny or weird while sleeping.  I don't think I talk in my sleep or sleep walk but you never know.

Anyway, I would wake up off and on throughout the night but overall slept pretty well.  A little after 5:00 this morning Jenna woke me up, brought me coffee (God love that girl), and it was time to take off the leads.  I asked her if I did anything strange like walk around or things like that and she said no.  Whew!  So I'm one of the few where Ambien doesn't make me do weird things except just sleep. I also noticed that I must not have sleep apnea, if at all, because she did not come in to put a CPAP on me.  I should have the results of this study in 2-3 weeks.

My recommendations for those who may have this study are:

• Bring at least one of your favorite pillows.  I only brought one and they only let you use 2 max.  At TMH Sleep Center, the pillows are kind of squishy and I like firm.
• Take a sleeping aid to help you sleep.  Even though the bed and surroundings are pretty comfortable, all those leads connected everywhere on your body aren't.  
• Bring a blanket if you tend to be on the cold side.  Jenna stated that her rooms are usually cold and she's not sure why.  I didn't mind being cool but you might.
• Bring a snack if you are a night eater.  I had eaten dinner and was full but I brought some granola bars as a just in case.
• I'm one of those who likes to fall asleep to the TV.  If you are too, TMH Sleep Center TVs do have timers.  Final lights out is at 11PM.
• Not a recommendation but something you'd like to know:  you will wake up, give or take, around 5AM the next morning and they will bring you juice or coffee.  I chose coffee because, well, I don't want to tell you what I'm like without my morning coffee.  They will have creamer and any sweetener you may use.
• Take a shower before you leave because that gel sticks like hell.  (Your room may not have a bathroom so you may want to request one that does.) I had to interrupt writing in this blog to take a shower to get the gel off my legs, head, neck, left side of my body.  Crap, it's still not all the way off.  I'll scrub more during tomorrow morning's shower. 

That's about it for me.  I had read the below article on what to expect before my study and it was pretty much spot on to what happened to me.  Please let me know if you have any questions.  

What A Sleep Study Is Like: Things I Wish I Knew Before My Sleep Test