Sleep Study . . . Are you supposed to sleep?

This is for all of those who have ever experienced what they call a "sleep study". What, you might ask, is a "sleep study". It is something you do to help the doctor determine if you have sleep apnea or narcilepsy or any other sleep disorder.

First you go away from home to a center where the rooms look like "hotel" rooms -- well maybe a bit but do hotels have hidden cameras, microphones, and speakers where someone in another room can talk to you -- I don't think so. Once "settled" in your room -- meaning you put your PJ's (or whatever you are going to wear while you sleep), they come in and spend about 30 minutes attaching wires to you -- I think I had a total of 8 wires connected to various spots on my head, 4 wires to my face, 1 wire to my throat, 4 wires to my legs, and 3 wires to my chest. The wires are to measure various things via a computer located in another room. Pretty cute, huh?

Once you are all "hooked" up, they give you the box they hook the wires up to on a fancy neck strap so you can move around the room until it is bedtime. At that time the box lays beside your pillow as you "sleep". Hooked to that many wires on your head, I can truthfully tell you it was no picnic to "sleep". I must have, however, because they woke me up in the middle of the night to put on a breathing machine to see if I slept better. Let me just say that it was an interesting experience that I'm hoping I won't have to repeat any time soon.