Sleep Study and Bell Let's Talk

Sleep Study Results

Mark this date in your calendar January 29, 2019 has been the snowiest January since 1999. Shattering the previous total of 93cm and so for 2019--97 cm #winning 😒

So of course with all that snow that meant traffic chaos and the penultimate slow ass drive to get to my appointment at the Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus. Ok so the appointment was set at 9:30a and of course there had to be at least some snow clearing that needed to be done as I didn't want to shovel. Well cuz yeah Heart condition and not a great idea; however, given the time and knowing traffic I did a quick clearing for my car and enough for the others to be able to drive out to get both kids to exams; well actually one to exam and the other just to visit. And the final occupant didn't need to get out, but there was a path.

Commute and the Results

 I left the house at 7:40a and I started up Waze to plot my course. Of course it knew exactly where all the shortcuts to take, but what Waze doesn't know is that some of the sketchy neighbourhoods it took me through were not even plowed so did it save me time...meh...it was an adventure. I went from Old Richmond road to cutting through Bell's Corners and then on Baseline through another neighbourhood to do a loop through another neighbourhood to get to Lincoln Fields to the SJAM where I got to Island Park and through ritzy houses and century homes with again streets not plowed. Remember, recovery from heart surgery and of course now with elevated HR. 😡

I finally arrived at the Civic and I have to say the pathways and roads were actually well maintained. However, parking was absolutely non-existent.

It was to the point where parking attendants were doing Valet since in the actual tower it appeared there was zero spots left yet they were still letting people into the parking garage. So I passed the attendants and just took my chances and drove up to the very top and SCORE there were still spots left. So I pulled into the first spot and time...9:15a Oh did I tell you that they wanted me there 20 mins before my appointment? gah!

OK so of course I was nowhere near the actual entrance near where I need to be so I walked from the parkade to the main entrance and chivalry was out the door so sorry lady in the wheelchair for some parkour moves around you and weaving between you crazy people wanting your Tim Horton's double double fix.

I went to the information desk and said where's the Sleep clinic again? I know it's 1st floor and kind volunteer lady said I think you need to go to Elevator D...bingo that's the letter so I went super sonic to the elevator and since this hospital is ancient I felt the elevator was not even moving...oh there were three all slower than a new bottle Heinz Ketchup. 😕 

When an elevator did finally show up I went up the one floor, yeah yeah I could have found a staircase and went up, but didn't want to get lost in a hospital that seems somewhat has fifty wings.

Oh and what time was it when I actually got to the check in??? yep it was 9:25a

Oh and was anyone actually at the desk? absolutely not, but there was one guy ahead of me and we both waited and then another patient arrived. So here we were three dudes waiting to be told we have Apnea and show me the money!!!

No I kid, but the reception lady finally made an appearance and took my health card and gave me the 20 questions security check and gave me a clipboard and goes yep fill this two page questionnaire out!! 😒

So I took the clipboard and and filled out the sheets and handed back the clipboard and was called into one of the rooms where I met Dr. Leech.

I sat down and she was pretty empathetic at the slow commute and the parking and pretty much tried to calm me down as it was apparent I was stressed out. We joked about the drive and the morning, but for what it was worth it was a long morning and it was only 9:45a.

So we went over my results and of course I have sleep apnea, but it was quite the interesting conversation as the way I answered the questions and then the results reveal was intriguing to her. To be honest I answered the survey questions honestly to how I've been feeling the past couple of weeks so there wasn't really any deviation. Also the sleep study was a week before I was going for my Ablation so there really wasn't much correlation to my AFib to Sleep Apnea or is there??  She could not confirm that fixing my Apnea would help my heart, but in general and more long term it would be better for me. Of course having a Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine setup to help me breathe through the night will be intrusive.

In general, I did not provide them with a lot of actual sleep and more REM sleep. So they took what they got from me and saw from me sleeping on my back I was prone to go into Apnea 29x/hour to about 15x if I was on my side. So the little sleep I did provide them gave them these really interesting numbers. But if I did give them more sleep I'm not sure if the numbers would be in my favour.

So we got side tracked slightly as she said that I exhibit signs of a man with apnea that weighs like 250 lbs.😮

Not only was I surprised she threw out an actual "fun fact" that apparently Asian males and females for some reason are more prone to have Apnea. I'm like really? I feel like being profiled a tad. BUT what was surprising is that she said she had an Asian woman around 90-100 lbs soaking wet...yep Apnea. So part of me is thinking this is just a way to get CPAP machine sales up. The other part of me is in disbelief, but of course one cannot watch oneself not breathing while sleep. 

Here we are...what are the next steps?

1. I totally ignore this and wait and see what happens with my post Ablation healing and see if there is some benefit. Note that there isn't any evidence that links AFib to Apnea that she was aware, but it's still early in my healing
2. CPAP. Try it for 30 some odd days and see how I feel.
3. Which she believes is the right fit is a mandibular dental appliance. BUT the only catch is that I have to be sure the CPAP is of zero benefit and I need a 2nd choice.

So she wrote me up some scripts and said to get in touch with the clinic that will provide a free rental to try and then see where to go from there. But I let her know that I'm still waiting for a follow up and that I'm going to hold off until at least next week.

Oh don't worry I'll be posting that lovely experience when I get the CPAP. 

Bell Let's Talk

If you follow my social feeds of Twitter and Instagram then I won't take too much digital space and just say check out my feed on Twitter / Instagram @ottpak where I share my story and via this blog about me! Feeling defeated and down and using this space to try and find some way to articulate the emotions I have and put them into words on a screen. I merely pointed out that my family and friends were there and although a big corporation like Bell makes a big publicity deal out of this, but the message is clear. Use your voice, step up and be heard and share your story. It doesn't have to be to me or a professional, but confide to someone and just be there. I relied on my friends and family as support and they heard my cry. They were there and will still be there so I give 🙌 to them and give them 😍 for being there. #BellLetsTalk #EndTheStigma