Sleep Disorders are all the Rage

Somewhere around 12 years old I started snoring. I'm fairly positive that I can link it to the sudden and explosive "blossoming" of my girlie parts which made it impossible to sleep on my stomach any longer. Since then no one has ever noticed that I stop breathing while I sleep, and I've never had any sensations of not being able to breath outside of the occasional asthma attack. I do sleep on an incline, but that's to alleviate reflux and chronic pain in and around my now non existent gall bladder. I also have the occasional bout of insomnia, but that's all about stress and my inability to adjust to being a night sleeper. 15+ years working graveyard and swing can have that effect.

Why am I going on about my sleep issues? I'm going on about them because, yet again, my doctors don't believe that I know diddly squat about my own body. I'm being forced to participate in a sleep study because if they can add sleap apnea to my list of issues, it's another co morbidity to add to the list in determining my eligibility for surgery. Great! except that I already have more than enough extenuating circumstances that will guarantee a quick and painless pre approval.

I don't want to do a sleep study, and not just because I don't want to deal with the stress of the actual test, but because I worked in the insurance industry and I rarely ever saw a billing for a sleep study that didn't also include an order for a CPAP. Things become trendy in the medical world, and when CPAP became trendy, the slightest snort during a sleep study was all that was needed to push the machine on the patient for their own safety.

Don't get me wrong, I know that some people really do need CPAP and I really want them to have it. I'm sure I don't need it, I'm sure I won't be able to sleep with it on, and I'm sure that if I have to use it I will have to sleep in a separate bedroom because it will make sleeping more difficult for Keith. I'm also sure that I cannot afford it, even at 20% of approved cost.

 In the end, this thing that they think will facilitate a surefire quick approval for surgery, will actually turn my already surefire quick approval into a denial when I refuse to get the machine. My primary care doctor does have some kind of personal issues going on at the moment, and is being a bit scatter brained (which better stop after she deals with whatever the issues are). I'm hoping that the pulmonary doc will be more open minded to my position and not try and shove me on the CPAP bandwagon.

We shall see, until then I'll be snoring happily LOL.

The Plans are Set

After a lot of back and forth about how long I should stay in Georgia I've finally settled on a plan. Staying there for a long period of time was just not going to be possible financially so the plan is to leave Minnesota on May 30th, go to Ian's graduation on June 1st, have a nice dinner and overnight visit, then head back. It's not going to give us a lot of time together, but Ian and I talked and he can come up later in June, or we will make plans for Christmas.

I'm a little freaked out about the bus ride because I only just realized that 2 days on a bus, making frequent stops, and filled with strangers, is probably not the best place to sedate myself. I'm working on some meditation and breathing techniques to help me get past the anxiety. I may break my no drinking policy and have a shot or two as well. It's not approved therapy, but it sure can take the edge off in a pinch. I'm looking into getting an extra battery pack for Priscilla the Laptop, and if I do, I'll occupy some of the ride with good old fashioned Sims therapy. *giggles*


Once I get back home I'll be doing several weeks of testing in preparation for the bariatric surgery. More than likely the surgery will happen in August, after my little brother gets married, but there is a small possibility that it could be as early as the beginning of July. If July is possible it would have to be in the first week so I can be sure that I'll be up to the road trip to the wedding. Keith will be driving, and while I would normally take a pill and sleep the whole way up north, I'll need to be semi lucid to make sure that he doesn't get lost.

Oddly, just having the basic timeline set out is more reassuring than I had expected it to be. Now I'm hoping that as plans get more detailed I'll get more settled. *fingers crossed*

It wasn't as bad as I thought

So I attended my first meeting at the surgeons office. I was expecting it to be a humiliating, strip down to you panties experience. I had nightmare visions of the time I joined a gym and they came out with calipers and pinched me in delicate and personal places. Thankfully I was over thinking things and there were no calipers involved, just a digital camera and a tape measure. Their height measuring apparatus was broken, and recorded me as being 2 inches shorter than I am, and the lady had a good giggle about that because that would have made me shorter than her, which I obviously was not. The rest of the visit was just discussing insurance requirements and benefits.

All in all, I think the freaky car ride to the other side of the city was a waste of time since most of it could have been done over the phone, and the picture and measurements part could have waited until I actually met with the surgeon. That appointment won't be for quite a while since I have to gather, from various and sundry doctors, a history of my weight for the past two years, see a shrink, and participate in some kind of phone seminar with my insurance company. It's looking like I won't be meeting the surgeon until after I go down south to Ian's graduation.

On the happy side, I was given the OK to indulge a little for the next few weeks. Since my biggest issue to overcome is flavor cravings for savory and rich, rather than hunger, it's a good idea to appease some of my cravings now. There's still the reflux to contend with, but I know which foods make it really bad, so I'll avoid them...well, most of them, I've been craving spaghetti for a month now.

Happy Hoppy my friends!