Well, this has been a very interesting, revealing week. Some time ago during my last visit with my regular doctor, he determined that I should go through a sleep clinic and be tested for sleep apnea. This past thursday morning I worked a teachers inservice in Weyerhauser and then Kim drove me into town in the early evening armed with my tooth brush, etc. By the time the tech got me all wired up like Frankenstein's monster, it was nearly 9:30PM. Even while I was going thru all the hook up I found myself drifting off and so the tech suggested I try to get to sleep early enough that before the night was over she would be able to determine whether I have apnea or not and if so we could proceed to the next step of applying a sleep mask.
I (surprisingly) was able to drop right off and didn't awaken until around 2:30 AM for my usual pee call. The tech informed me that I definitely have sleep apnea so after my trip to the bath room she hooked me up to a sleep mask (which basically is an air machine over the nose that blows air down your throat keeping your soft palate open, preventing the air passage from shutting off. I was able to sleep with the mask in place until around 4:30 AM. After lying awake for half an hour I summoned the tech and said i was now wide awake and may as well get up and shower.
The clinic supplied a free cab ride home and I was in my own bed by 6:30 in the morning. My appointment with the sleep specialist isn't until late September which is unfortunate but at least I think my health will improve some when I can start getting decent rest.
Today I had to get an injection of radioactive material and have readings done later in the day on my right leg as I am having really a lot of pain with my lower leg due to (I think) very bad circulation in my lower right leg.
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