Witty knitter

Follow on from the sleep test

I saw the doctor this morning. I do have 'moderate' sleep apnoea. As I suspected, the restlessness in the second part of the night indicated that I was frequently stopping breathing and almost waking up as a result. I don't snore much.

However, none of my other health markers are a worry. My blood pressure is low, and although my cholesterol and blood sugar levels are above normal they are all lower than they were last year. The only thing that needs to change is my weight.

My weight has gone up a bit, and has stayed up, because of the trouble with my knees, which made it difficult to exercise. However, now that my knees are feeling much stronger and less painful I can walk, and get back in the pool. The doctor suggested 12,000 steps a day (eep!). This week I've generally done 5000, and one day I did 7000. So I need to try and build more into my routine.

In short, I don't need to use a CPAP machine, or a jaw-breaking oral insert. I need to lose weight.

And that will be the last health-related post from me for a long while, god willin' and the cricks doan' rise.

Sleep test is not fun

Sue hit that nail square on: sleep tests are not fun. It's like paying for a very expensive hotel (although Medicare does pick up quite a bit of that) and then discovering that it's very clean, but barely comfortable.

I got to sit in a very basic 'patients lounge' in which the TV didn't seem to have an ABC channel. There was fresh fruit, dip and crackers and tea or coffee. There were only two people in last night, and the other person didn't show him/herself, so I got to pick the channel. I found SBS and watched that for an hour or so, knitting away peacefully. Then I got into my jarmies and had a lot of leads attached. Two on each leg, two under each clavicle, two under my chin and an unknown number on my head - at least ten I think. All of these were taped to my face then up over and down behind my ears. Then straps around my belly and under my arms, with leads on the front to measure my respiration, and finally nose prongs with more leads. Each of these leads was plugged into a kind of peg board (with a strap so it could be hung off my neck when I needed to leave the bed to pee), which was then plugged into a wall unit.

I was then left to read until I wanted to turn out the light and sleep, which I did fairly quickly. Negotiating the leads when I went to pee was interesting; some of them hung round my feet, perhaps because I'm so short. Without glasses, in a strange bathroom, it was a challenge to get back to bed safely. The bed was very firm, which I'm used to, but wasn't very comfortable. Itb felt lumpy - I am so spoiled with our lovely wool matress topper. My hip ached quite a bit and the tooth that I'd had the root canal done in the night before was reminding me of its existence too. I popped a couple of panadol when I went to the loo, but didn't sleep as well after that - I had a lot of very vivid dreams. I'm not sure what that means but no doubt I'll find out next week when I see the doctor.

Today I'm at home, being a blob. I may nap in a bit. In the meantime I'll catch up on what was on the ABC last night.

 

Still alive

Despite being officially vintage and suffering from general decrepitude, I soldier on. My knee has been crappy. This is the knee above the achilles tendon snap of 2007 and the leg has never been exactly right since the accident. WIth intensive strapping, stretching osteopathic manipulations and carefully planned exercises it is feeling much stronger and, better still, is not painful.

A recent visit to my dentist, which, I'll admit was long overdue, resulted in a root canal, which was finished last night. They are such a pain; they take so many visits to do. The good news was my Health Insurance paid for more than half of it, and it didn't require a cap. But it's possible that another tooth will require a cap; I have to go back before Christmas for the final word on that.

And, worst of all, I may have sleep apnoea. Tonight I'm spending the night in a secure facility - as in, I will be secured by wires to the facility which will produce mysterious 'readings' of my sleep patterns. To reward myself, and because I'm expecting not to sleep much, I'm having a day off tomorrow. I'll tell you then how it went.

If you're wondering about the outcome of the sentencing matter we were talking about a month ago, just google Nora Zacardas for the local media's take on the final outcome. She will be in jail for a few months, and then on a good behaviour bond for 18 months after that. And the judge pronounced very very stronlyg on how much of a danger she poses to the community. She was taken straight from the courtroom to the prison.

See you tomorrow.