Saturday, September 18, 2004

I have finally taken my sleep test. Study for it was not bad. They wanted me to stay awake all day.  Being on a Sunday it was with some difficulty, but I did it. They proceeded to glue electrodes on all over my head, face, chest,  and legs. Put a sensor under my nose to tell them whether the air was coming out thru my mouth or nose.  Put an oxygen sensor on my little finger.  All of the above had a wire going to it. They could tell which way my eyes were looking and if they were open or closed. They knew by the microphone glued to my neck if I was talking or snoring.  They new if I moved a leg or if I was breathing with my stomach or chest or both. There was a camera on me. These people surely work for Santa in December to determine if children are naughty or nice.
They got all of the wires gathered and made a kind of pony tail with them. (I'm sure the nurse knew how to wire dashboards on 747's.  She then put a mask on my nose, asked me to not sleep on my side, (which I normally do) turned out the lights said good night and closed the door. I couldn't move without something pulling my skin.
After all of this I lay there, thinking, a mistake.  I have a thought that  goes thru my head several times a year.  I find myself in a very uncomfortable, avoidable, situation.  I usually get there by saying yes to someone I owe a favor to and the question usually starts with "Cliff, I'm going to be gone all next week and I was wondering if you would....", then I say "'yes" and think "how on earth did I get into this?". In this case it is an elective test, but I layed there, thinking and started laughing.  It's not possible to laugh with air being pumped up your nose and down your throat. I could have gotten the role of Darth Vader with that voice. I hope the laughing  doesn't show up on the printouts.  Other wise the Dr will be saying, 'Uh Nancy, what's this, what was happening to the patient right here?"
I'm glad Mom and Santa didn't have this equipment when I was young.