The Sleep Test Results are in!

 

Today ended up being the last day I was going to present as Marian for a while.  So I made the most of it when Vicki mentioned that she wanted to talk about something serious, but not critical.  Instead of laying around the apartment and doing nothing, I told Vicki that I'd meet her at 5 pm, and we could get a bite to eat.

Although I started getting ready around 3 pm, I was late getting out of the house, and barely made it to Lefteris Gyro on time to meet Vicki.  (The food is healthy, plentiful, and reasonably priced.  What more can you ask of a restaurant.  When I arrived, Vicki was already waiting for me at the table.  I almost didn't recognize Vicki at first, as she had her hair scrunched to the back of her head, exposing the area which alopecia has taken its toll.  (I made sure NOT to say anything about this.)  And then we got into our conversation.

I'm not going to say much about the conversation, save that it was related to health issues.  I mentioned that I got a call from the sleep doctor's office today telling me that I have severe sleep apnea, that I'd be getting a new CPAP machine and put on a regular schedule of new supplies.  YAY!  The only problem is that it will take 2 weeks to get approved by my insurance, and another 2 weeks before it arrives.  AARGH!  The way things are going, it will arrive when I'm away on another trip.

On my way home, I called RQS, and found that she was having trouble with printing a luggage tag for our upcoming cruise.  Since I couldn't solve the problem from a moving car, I suggested that she contact MSC to figure out what was wrong - and she now has a luggage tag for her suitcase.  Next, I stopped at the bank to deposit a check, then onward to home.

Arriving at my house, I met a new resident - a nice woman raising a child on her own.  Although I don't want to get her in trouble, I figured that I should ask our managing agent for information to find out if she's an approved resident.  Then, it was doing the last load of laundry before my trip.  

I can't wait to get on the ship!

 

 

 

PS: I received test results from the lab several weeks after the sleep test.  They confirmed what I already knew - I need my CPAP machine!

Sleep Test - How did I do?

 

Nine years ago, I was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea. For those who don't know what this is, it is not snoring.  It is that the person gets so tired, that s/he falls far enough into sleep that the body stops breathing.  I have grown to depend on my CPAP machine to go to sleep, and take it with me whenever I plan to sleep away from home.

Recently, my CPAP machine has displayed a message that it is past its predicted life span, and that it is on its last legs.  This meant that I had to schedule an appointment with the sleep doctor, and then an appointment to take a sleep test.  Last night was that sleep test.

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Before I went to the hospital for the test, I bought a set of men's PJ's (aargh!) to wear during the test. Last night, I packed up my PJ's and a full change of clothes to take with me for the next morning.  When I was finally wired up, I found out that this would be a diagnostic test to see if I had sleep apnea, and not the test I'd need to get a new machine script.  (The doctor was starting from scratch to be safe.) And it took me 2 hours to fall asleep for the first time this evening.

I was awakened around 3 am to fit me with a nasal mask (presumably to see if my breathing improved with a CPAP device), and I was able to get to sleep much quicker than I did the first time.  I was awakened again at 6:30 am, and proceeded to get showered, dressed and out the door.  While on my way out, one of the reception personnel and I chatted a little before I got into my car and drove away for a breakfast sandwich.

- - - - - -

My question is: When should I contact the doctor's office for the next step in this process?  What were the results of this sleep test?  Will I need to get a new CPAP machine?  Inquiring minds want to know.

RQS has gone home. (But I'll see her tomorrow.)

This past Friday, RQS came up to spend the weekend.  Because I had purchased tickets to Lawrence of Arabia for a Sunday evening showing, she stayed over until Monday morning.  It was unusual for her to leave so early in the day.  But she had to get her hair done before meeting me tomorrow.

Once RQS was safely on the train, I took care of some business for the co-op at the bank, then went home to chill a little before meeting with my sleep doctor.  Soon, I'll have an appointment to take a sleep test (hopefully, at a lab and not at home) as a precursor to getting a new CPAP machine.  And then, I went home to rest some more before having the first interview for a study I've volunteered to participate in. Around 6:45 pm, I had my interview for the study, and all went well.  So I know what I'll be doing for the next 3 months or so.

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Tomorrow, it'll be my turn to meet RQS in Manhattan for a nice dinner.  Thankfully, the weather will be nice enough for me to dress relatively nice, so we won't look like Mutt and Jeff.  Since RQS will have her hair nicely done, I'd like to get a nice picture of the two of us together....

Visiting TCL for lunch.

 

It's been a while since I've seen TCL.  She prefers to see me as Mario, and I try to schedule "Mario Days" as rarely as possible.  So, I scheduled a Mario Day, in order for her to feel comfortable wen I visited.

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As I've mentioned in this blog, I prefer to spend as much time as possible as Marian.  But, having spent the past holiday and a long weekend as Marian, it was time for me to go out in the world as Mario for a change.  And this was the right call, not only because of TCL's preferences, but because TCL had me assist her in both the search for a lost TV remote control, and in corralling her cat so he could be pilled.

But first....

Parking near the chosen restaurant gets very crowded by 1:00 pm.  This meant that I'd have to get to TCL's place by 12:30 pm, to be able to park near the restaurant.  We were able to find a parking spot and get inside the restaurant by 1:00 pm, and settled down to a nice, filling lunch.  In addition to the Chicken Gorgonzola, I had soup, salad, and an appetizer of Eggplant Rollatine.  Everything we ate was yummy, neither of us having room for dessert.  While eating, my meal was interrupted by a call from my sleep doctor's office.  Now, I have my appointment for a consult, which will be followed by another sleep test, and hopefully another CPAP prescription.

When we drove back to TCL's place, it was "the hunt for the lost remote control."  We moved chairs, sofas, side tables, and storage containers in this search - and I couldn't help but work up an unneeded sweat.  Eventually, we found the remote control and it was time to rest for a while before pilling the cat.  This wasn't has hard as it sounds, as her cat was totally under her control while it was fed its medicine.

Soon afterward, I had to go home.  I was glad to get out of her place by 3:30 pm, as traffic was starting to back up in Rockland county on the bridge approach.  Although I had planned to do 2, 3 and maybe a 4th load of laundry, I stayed in my air conditioned apartment and relaxed all evening.

Now that I'm back home, I'm catching up on things.

 

OK, it's been a while since I've been able to sleep in my own bed.  And it feels strange!  I guess that I'll have to make it into NYC with RQS and have her try out the Saatva mattress I liked so much.  Given that RQS has fallen in love with her mattress from Bob's Discount Furniture. I figure that I will have a hard choice to make sometime soon - do I want a bed with a fixed base, or one with an adjustable base?

While I was away, I received a letter from a lawyer in Los Angeles that I am one of the beneficiaries of my uncle's trust.  My brother is more upset at the terms of what hell get from it than I am.  I guess it's because my uncle considered a close friend in LA that he's known for years to be as much a family member as his blood family is.  Given that I have seen a list of the beneficiaries, I have a strong feeling that my uncle wanted to see most of his money go to causes that he cared about.

I'm glad that I did a load of laundry on the second to last day that we were on the ship.  I only have a couple of days of dirty laundry from the cruise to add to my laundry basket for another load I have to put in to my co-op's washers/dryers before the end of the week.  The rest of the laundry in my suitcases can be put back into my dresser drawers.

Bill paying is a pain in the neck, and I had a small stack to take care of.  One of these bills was a credit card charge related to a cruise I'll be taking next year.  (More details on that later.)  I'm lucky that I have overpaid my co-op maintenance charges enough to skip one payment and still have a hefty surplus in my account.  (The same went for my electric bill as well, but not to the same degree.)  At this point, I am in good shape financially, even with an unexpected expense.

Depending on where I stand with my accounts, I'm thinking of surprising RQS with an expensive gift that we both can enjoy.  (No, it's not a ring.)  If I do so, it'll be closer to year end that I spring this on her.  She's a good woman, and I want to show how much I appreciate her being in my life.

Just before I took my recent trip, I found out that my online pharmacy was unable to reach my doctor's office to renew my prescription.  So I called the office this morning, and reached a receptionist who may not have bothered to see that the prescription is called in.  I'll have to double check this tomorrow, as I'm running low on this medicine.  Thinking about doctors, my CPAP machine is near the end of its life.  Tomorrow, I have to call the sleep doctor to see whether I need another consult and another sleep test before I can get a new machine.  (I also want to buy a second machine, just for travel.  But I'll talk with the doctor about that first....)  It's hard to believe that I got this machine 9 years ago!

As I said in the title of this post - I'm catching up on things....

Lunch with a friend & Zooming with Friends

Today, I had lunch with my friend, C, from the US Census, and had a monthly Zoom meeting with RQS and my Texas friends.  And I realized that monthly get togethers are the perfect time interval for each, as this gives us enough time to build up enough things we can talk about that happened in our lives.

But first....

Sooner or later, I will need to schedule an appointment with the sleep doctor.  I am falling asleep, but still feeling tired when I wake up - which is happening after a sleep of short duration.  I know that my CPAP is working, but there could be something else disturbing my sleep.  Also, I want to get a new CPAP machine prescription before the old one wears out.

Once I woke up, I got showered and dressed in one of the summery dresses I had in my closet.  (I decided not to take the tags off of either of my Universal Standard outfits, as I might end up returning one of them after RQS has a chance to see them on me.  But I digress.  I was very surprised to find that it was over 80 degrees outside, and that I didn't need to wear the denim jacket I had planned to wear.  So when I saw C,  she complimented me on what I was wearing.  Then, we caught up on all of the things that have gone on in or lives over the past month.

All too soon, we had to leave, and I stopped off at the apartment to put my leftovers in the refrigerator. The, it was up to Lane Bryant in Poughkeepsie to do some browsing through the racks.  Luckily, I didn't spend any more money on clothes I didn't need.  (I'll wait to find things other than dresses that both I can wear comfortably and that look good on me.)  On the way home, I stopped off at Aldi to see what the "cousin" of Trader Joe's was like and picked up a few things.  (See: Aldi History.)  Then, I went home for the night.

Once home, I rested a little before a Zoom meeting with RQS and my Texas friends.  Although I hope we can all get together again soon, I doubt this will happen as a foursome.  Instead, I think we have better odds if one or the other friend were to meet RQS and I in one of our travels.  We had a good chat, as usual, and around 10 pm, we bid each other farewell until next month.

By the time you read this....

 

By the time you read this, I will have both gone to a doctor to see about my persistent cough and have gone on my California cruise with RQS.  And I'll have much to report when I get back.

I'm not one who is comfortable going to new doctors, dealing with new procedures, etc. when it comes to my health.  So, it took a badly abscessed tooth to get me going to a dentist on a regular basis.  It took me almost getting pneumonia to start seeing my internist on a regular basis.  It took a former girlfriend to get me to see a sleep doctor. And it took a former friend to get me to see a dermatologist (who I should see again soon). As you can guess, I am nervous about going to the Doc in a Box today, and may write another post about it later on.

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Tomorrow, we'll be flying to LA for our cruise.  On our one full free day in LA, we intend to see my uncle, and then do a little of the tourist thing.  Unfortunately, many of the attractions will close at 5 pm, not giving us enough time to do more than one museum or attraction.  But then, I never loved LA.  Its sprawl befits the description, "LA is a suburb in search of a city." I prefer to be in a traditional city.

Afterward, we will go on our cruise and stop in San Francisco for a couple of days. In a way, this trip is our way of connecting with family on the West Coast. First, we'll visit the place where I scattered my late wife's ashes. RQS won't mind that, as I was with her when she scattered her husband's ashes. (Of course, we'll spend the better part of the two days in San Francisco doing the typical tourist thing.) Then we will sail off to San Diego, where we'll meet up with RQS's cousin for the day. And all too soon, we'll be home.

It's been hard to identify why I am ambivalent about taking this trip.  And now I think I've figured it out.  It will likely be the last time I see my uncle while he's alive.  It may be the last time I visit San Francisco and go where I scattered my late wife's ashes.  It may be the last chance that RQS gets to meet her older cousin.  In short, it's a trip with a set of "Lasts" that is giving me a sense of sadness before it begins.

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A while back, FCP criticized me, saying that I had nothing going on in my life. (I take this slightly out of context, as I don't want to rehash old wounds.)  I think she'd now say that I have a life of my own. It's far from perfect, but it's my life and I'm living it.

RQS makes me glad that she's in my life.  Unlike Ex-GF-M, RQS is willing to try new things when with me.  She is willing to get a little lost along the way, and explore what serendipity brings to us.  Unlike XGFJ, she's willing to force the issue and make me tell her how I feel.  And unlike my relationship with Patty, our relationship is built on solid ground - we both feel secure.  It's a shame that it took me almost 25 years to find a relationship that really works for me. But as they say, "you've got to kiss a few frogs before you find a prince(ss)."