Sleep Study?!?!? More like bomb squad practicing wire hook-up!

Let me start by saying that I have gone back and forth on whether to actually do the sleep study or not. The surgeon and anesthesiologist both recommend it prior to surgery, the insurance doesn't require it but apparently it can help with the approval process if you are diagnosed with sleep apnea, etc. At first when I found out it was not mandatory I was totally against it. I don't want to sleep at some strange place alone being monitored all night; but after some consideration I decided if it can possibly help everything in the long run I should do it.

I arrived at the sleep study location as scheduled at 9PM, very strange walking into an office building knowing that you're going to sleep there. The technician who greeted me was incredibly sweet and friendly and he definitely helped ease my nerves. I was shown bedroom 1 as where I'd be, again very odd seeing bedrooms in an office building. I went in my pajamas so I just had to complete a bit of paperwork and then the hooking up process began. OY VEY!!!! It took 2 technicians about 30-45 minutes to hook me up, I swear it would have taken Jack Bauer or MacGuyver to unhook the at least 50 wires that were connected to my head, face, chest, legs, etc. I joked with the techs as everything was being put on, they were good guys and right on cue with my sense of humor so that was good :) A older couple came in a little after me and I recognized them from my dietitian class the day before, they are also going to have the Sleeve Surgery through the Nicholson Clinic. Having been all "bomb squad prepared" I was led back into my bedroom and helped into bed. They had televisions but only for DVDs and I didn't bring one, it was OK because I took plenty of meds to fall asleep, texted a bit and then fell asleep. I was told that unlike what it said on their website I didn't have to stay on my back all night but as I went to turn to my stomach (tummy time as Paul calls it) I realized that the pulse-ox thingy that was attached to my finger wasn't long enough for me to roll over so I stayed on my back shifting back and forth to my side all night. I slept OK considering the situation. I woke up several times as I do at home but I also was very uncomfortable being on my back. Finally I woke up needing to use the restroom and after trying to ignore it called for Jason, the tech to come in. Perfect timing, it was 5:10AM and he was just about to wake us up anyway. He came in to unhook me and I said, "I slept on my back," he said, "yep, all night," I pointed out that I couldn't roll to my stomach because the other tech hadn't left any slack in the wire, he giggled and said, "Oh No, you dropped your purse on the wire, it's 25 feet long," figures -- it WAS MY FAULT!!!!!! I got up and it only took him about 20 min to deactivate the connections. I asked, "do I have to come back next week?" and he said yes, that I had several occurrences throughout the night --- ughhhhh!!! I came home and went to sleep for a few hours.

Despite the weirdness of sleeping with wires attached to your body and knowing that you're being watched and listened to, not to mention having washed my body & hair upwards of 7 times and still have adhesive and paste on me, it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

I will now wait for the call and hopefully some explanation of these occurrences and return next Friday night to do it all over but with the addition of a c-pap machine for sleep apnea. If through this process I not only lose weight and become the person I want to be, but also learn to actually get a truly restful night, I'll say I have definitely come out ahead!!!!

Beautiful huh?!?!?!?