Sleeping In Stanford, Part II

I took my sleep test last night at the Stanford Clinic. I won't have the results for a while, but it seemed to go smoothly.

I left work at 5:00 PM yesterday, as my appointment was at seven. There was an accident on the 880 freeway, so traffic was pretty spotty for a lot of the trip. I think the original drive took about ninety minutes, but this one took even longer - I figured it would, since I was heading into rush hour. I budgeted two hours, and made it with fifteen minutes to spare!

The clinic experience was much different from a typical doctor visit. I brought a book and two DVDs for time killers, but didn't wind up needing most of it. I'd hardly gotten settled into the waiting room when my test room was ready! Ditto 'waiting' for my assistant to arrive - I barely got my laptop open when she showed up too. I filled out some more paperwork, and shortly thereafter, we got down to business.

If I remember correctly, I was told that I had about thirty electrodes fastened to me (half for my head, half for the rest), but it didn't feel like that many. It took a while, though - I think it took well over an hour to get everything hooked up. Of course, all the contact points had to be cleaned with alcohol and thoroughly scrubbed. The cranial electrodes were literally glued to my head with some sort of foul-smelling gunk - they clearly weren't going anywhere, regardless how much I moved in my sleep.

Everything was connected to a small, junction-box-like device that lead to the monitoring equipment. I had sensors inserted into my nose and a fingertip device to monitor my breathing and oxygen intake (it lit up red in the dark, just like E.T.). Most of this stuff wasn't too bad, just time-consuming. I can deal with a lot, as long as needles aren't involved! Fortunately, there's only three major connections that need to be unhooked in case of an emergency. I was shown how to do it, and where the flashlight, smoke alarm, and exit map were.

I was fitted for a CPAP mask, just in case my oxygen levels weren't high enough during the night. I wouldn't have to start off wearing it, but I would be awakened to apply it if things got bad. I was expecting that that would happen, so I tried to pick carefully. I liked the smaller one that was basically just nose plugs attached to a hose - the larger one wasn't very big either (it just covered my nose like a tiny laughing-gas mask), but I didn't feel comfortable breathing in it.

All of the electrode work was finished at about 9:00 PM. I followed some commands broadcast from the monitoring room so that the signal reception could be tested. Then it was just a waiting game until I was ready to go to bed. I watched Apocalypto until a little after eleven o'clock, then buzzed for the assistant to do the last connections and start the machine. The bed was an adjustable hospital bed, so it was pretty comfy.

I don't often have trouble going to sleep, and even all of the wiring didn't really bother me. I think it took about twenty or thirty minutes to fall asleep, mainly because I was in unfamiliar surroundings. I woke up at least a few times, but quickly dozed off again. A new attendant came in, but not because I needed a mask - it was morning! I filled out an exit questionnaire and headed back to Emeryville. A deadline was looming and I knew I'd get into the office around eight or eight-thirty AM (it was the latter). After I got back, I jumped into my work and managed to finish the assignment. Phew!

More later about the test results...