Ah, well, then. First things first. The sleep study:
It was pretty strange. Hookups included sensors on my leg, on my head (eeg) EKG, jaw tension, a little gizmo that figgered out if I was breathing through my mouth or my nose... sensors on my upper lip and chin, to see if my jaw sagged... pretty interesting.

I got there and registered right on time, and didn't have time to even sit down before Jim, a tech that I've known forever that moonlights in the sleep lab, came to get me.

I was forced to watch a video that had aired on CBS several years ago about sleep apnea while I was getting wired, and I was having trouble staying awake even then.

I've not slept worth a damn the last two nights, having scary nightmares... the weird thing is, about this particular nightmare, is that sometimes it doesn't scare me at all, and sometimes I'm terrified. It's really pretty simple: Great huge rolling shapes of various colors rolling over me and smothering me whilst I try to escape. Sometimes I can really get caught up in the shapes and colors of these various shapes, wondering about the physics that can create and sustain them and get them to come after me. Those are the fun ones, where I know that I'm dreaming.

But sometimes, they are just so sinister that I can't convince myself that they're dream stuff... you know how it is... everything is so bizarre but so real, and you're so sure that you're gonna die and never wake up...

Anyway, back to the story... once I was wired, I was allowed to go back to sleep. There was a king-sized bed, but I had to sleep on the wrong side of it... Karen's side. That was not too much of a problem, though, since Karen wasn't there... I slept pretty well, waking once to go to the bathroom, and several other times before and after that.

Jim woke me up using the intercom about 06:15, right when I asked him too. I got unhooked and brushed my teeth and went up to the cafeteria for my free breakfast.

I went to the smoking area first, of course, then on to breakfast. Then about 07:30, I met briefly with Dr Daughty, the sleep doc. He told me that he was going to have to study the graphs and charts and stuff a little bit more, then he'd call me.

I went home, and found that Karen was still there... she hadn't gone to work. She was going to take Lacee to the dentist, it was going to be Lacee's first real dental work... her first filling.

So Karen and I decided to do spring cleaning, sorta. She was working on the closets, I was working on the utility room.

The doc called a little later, he said that I was apneic during REM sleep, and that I was wakened by leg twitching and by coughing in addition to the apnea. However, my O2 sats remained about 90%, and that was the good part. I'm going to go in on June 2nd and wear the CPAP device and see if it seems to help any.

Well, crap. I was hoping that apnea was going to be a major problem... that could be solved. Guess not, but it's a minor one that can be solved, anyway.

Shortly after he called, I got a call from the cardiologist's office... he wanted me to pick up some samples (Lipitor) to reduce my cholesterol. So, when Karen and I got to a stopping point, we went and got the pills, then we went out to eat, then, since it was convenient, we went to Sears, where I bought some hedge clippers and a gas-powered weed-whacker. Either Andy or Steve "borrowed" my hedge clippers year before last and I've not seen them since... and I've wanted a gas-powered 'whacker for a long time, but my old Craftsman electric just kept chuggin' away... and still would, if I'd let it.

Our back hedges are twelve feet tall and way outa control. I got a good start on them, but got tired out and, besides, I didn't really know how tall Karen wanted them to be, so I kinda quit. Came in to take a shower, and I decided to shave my beard off. I'd forgotten what a handsome devil I was without it... O'wait, maybe that's why I keep growing it back... No, that's because I hate shaving.

Damn, how could I have forgotten that part?

Anyhoo, I'm very sleepy right now... I'd planned on staying up the night, but I'm not gonna make it.

More tomorrow...

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