the (let's make you so uncomfortable so you can't hardly sleep) sleep study

Last night, I went to the oh-so-lovely Cayuga Medical Center (heavy sarcasm here) for an overnight sleep study. We're trying to get to the bottom of why I sleep for 8 or 9 hours and still feel very tired. The study was quite an adventure...

After the four of us arrived at the sleep lab, they show us to our individual rooms. The room did have a full-sized bed, rather than just a hospital bed, but the size was the only difference. I would think that if they're studying people sleeping, they'd actually want them to be able to sleep and giving them a decent bed and pillows that didn't resemble pancakes would help. But that's just me. Fortunately, due to their recommendation, I brought my own pillow. If I do have to repeat the study (and yes that's a possibility), I will bring my own 3 pillows instead of 1, to make it a little more cozy. After chilling for an hour while the tech put the wires on the woman next door, he came in to spend almost an hour attaching leads to me. I got:

1 on the crown of my head

1 on the top of my head

2 on my temples, one on each side

2 just by my cheekbones, one on each side

2 along my jaw line

2 on my throat

2 on my chest

4 on my legs

Along with

a pulse oximeter on my finger

a bizarre wired thing that sat under my nose and above my mouth that measured my breathing, held in place by a nose tube.

A band across the top of my chest

A band across my abdomen

All of these wires were collected into a "wire ponytail" that went behind my head. After climbing into bed, the tech attached my wire ponytail to the machines next to the bed, then we tested out each of the leads and the speaker/camera system when he went into the Control Room (as I decided to call it just now). And then it was time to go to sleep.... Riiiight (use Bill Cosby's voice from his Noah sketch here). I read for a while, but am not sleepy at all. It doesn't help that closing my eyes pulls on the leads just on my check bones, so it seems the paste and wire are trying to pry my eyes open again.

After an hour and a half of reading, laying and trying to think "relaxed thoughts" and NOT think about what my brain waves look like as I jump from singing in my head and to different topics, finally flipping through channels and settling on Letterman as something that might put me to sleep, I do fall asleep. The requirement was that I sleep 2 hours some time between 11 pm and 5:45 am (yep that's when I got woken). I did do that, but didn't surpass it by much. I woke up a few times, in a fair amount of pain from awkward bed and sleeping positions, and tried to sleep some more. When I woke up at the end of the study, I felt like I had been beaten up, put through a ringer, and then not allowed to sleep... After getting all the leads home, I cleaned myself up a bit. I had piles of paste and red wax pencil on my face and head - I kind of looked like I'd been beaten up too. I drove myself home (in hindsight not a brilliant idea, I know for next time). After a very long, hot shower to get the paste out of my hair in various places and a first breakfast, I collapsed in bed. I'm feeling much better now, after 2 more hours of sleep and a large cup of coffee (mmmm Vanilla Caramel Latte from International Cafe by Maxwell House).

My souvenir from the test is a print out of my brain waves! I was asking my tech Mike what the difference was in the readings of a person relaxing with their eyes closed and a person asleep, so he brought me one page of printouts of each type from my study. By far the coolest part of the experience :). Now, I wait a week to get my test results. Send prayers or good thoughts (whichever you do) that they actually figure out something that we can fix (as opposed to them telling me, "Oh, you do this, but we can't do anything to help you...").

Boston Day

Since Tuesday evening, I've been in Boston, mostly in Cambridge, MA, for a math conference (my first ever!). I have had gluten-free pizza, lovely breakfasts at my cute B&B, and nice walks to and from campus. I find myself smiling pretty much wherever I'm walking, which is a nice thing ;). I think a big part of it, beyond the fact that the buildings are pretty and roses are in bloom, is that I feel I actually belong here. The first (and only other) time I was here in Boston was when I was searching for grad schools, and my time in Boston was rather terrible overall, including crying in a Harvard Science Center bathroom due to feeling completely out of place and unworthy. But now! I know stuff, I'm a grad student, and I'm here to learn even more! Plus they're funding me to be here! Take that, Harvard math department ;). Now, of course, I realize I would've been completely in over my head and out of place as a grad student here, but I think they could've been nicer about it.

But - I began the day by going to 2 talks, meeting some famous and less famous people (go me!), including convincing one that I'm an idiot, though I'm told he makes everyone feel this way. Then, I played hooky for a while to go to the Boston Common. I had a lovely walk in the sunshine, at lunch near the Civil War veteran memorial, watched a bicycle cop stare at some guy sitting on a bench with his back to the cop... apparently he looked like he was doing something not-so-much-on-the-up-and-up... then wandered down to the Swan Pond, saw a nesting swan and the daddy finding more twigs. Swans are really quite awkward on land, but graceful in the water. After a rest in the sunshine on a bench near the pond, my totally awesome sister found me a place only 2 blocks away with gluten-free dessert! So, after admiring the awesome smelling roses a second time, I got myself a Dark Chocolate Decadence at Finale. I wandered back to the park to eat my cake - this cake included dark chocolate mocha flourless cake covered in chocolate ganache, topped with gold flakes and a triangular chocolate that had "Finale" written on it! After eating for a little while, some of the squirrels got very curious. In fact, one came up to about 2 inches away from my lap on one side, and then another came up to a couple inches from my purse next to me on the other side. Trying to shoo them away (and seeing that they had suspicious red bumps/blisters on the tops of their feet) and having them come back a few times, I decided to run away from the squirrels. While still surprised by their behavior, I made a face in the direction of one of the Bostonian passers-by, and he got a chuckle out of me being attacked by squirrels wanting my awesome cake.

I wandered back towards the Capital Building (seeing a store called Finagle a Bagel and an office Gentle Dental) to hop on the T to my Inn. I needed to get the other half of delicious cake back in the fridge!

Later, after a talk by an 84 year old French mathematician (J.P. Serre), I wandered down to Harvard Square to meander. I stopped by the Harvard Co-op (a humongous book store, plus cafe, plus apparel store), found a homemade ice cream place but had to walk in the opposite direction due to large amounts of cake earlier :), and then I found the most awesome store ever! Bob Slate: Stationer! Beeya and I would be in heaven... I just wandered around for a long time looking at all the pretty things.

I headed back to the Science Center when thunder started rolling, as I didn't want to get caught in a downpour, and I didn't! I just got to sit inside and watch it! :)

In the evening session, one of the big-named math guys mentioned something very close to (and including) what I'm working on for my thesis as an interesting problem. Cool that he thinks it's interesting, bad if other people start working on it!

All in all, a good day in Boston, though all the walking and sitting in auditorium chairs and sleeping on hard beds is making my body hurt... I'm ready to be back home.

I'm in VA for the week, and already it's been great! I listened to a good book on the drive down, had sunshine and rolling green hills, not too much annoying traffic, and get here in good time. I love the warm weather, though I could do without the humidity. My cat is being infinitely patient with the little ones, who haven't really interacted with pets before. Here's to another wonderful day!

Splendid Sunday

Wow, it's been a month since I blogged last. I can sum that month up in: school work, exhaustion, pain, physical therapy, walks, resting, more school work, doctor's appointments, more school work, rest, and a little bit of fun thrown in to keep me sane.

Now for the wonderful day that was today!

Woke up feeling mildly good for the first time in a while. Decided I wanted something warm and sweet for breakfast, so settled on cinnamon muffins (yummy cinnamon taste of cinnamon rolls without all the work). While they're baking, I wash the dishes and make an icing for the top of the muffins. Eat a muffin - they're pretty terrible and pretty burnt on the sides :(. Decide to meet a friend for coffee and remember an important lesson from Gilmore Girls - muffin tops are the best part of the muffin! I decide to frost just the tops of muffins, so there's about 1/3 icing, 2/3 muffin. It worked perfectly! Have a wonderful time outside in the sunshine drinking coffee, eating muffin tops, and sharing conversation. Wander back to my apartment to soak up more sun while petting a cat and chatting. Later, decide it's time for lunch and head to Five Guys for bacon burgers, fries, and fountain soda, along with more sun. Head home for some rest, including watching HILARIOUS videos on YouTube. It was nice to laugh so hard for so long. Decide to attempt another baking adventure and start on some blondies (brownies that are butterscotchy rather than chocolatey). In the middle of the process realize that the nausea I'm having is due to forgetting my morning meds - bleh. Fortunately, watching a Princess and the Frog with a friend, a cat, and a heating pad makes the nausea go away, and the blondies are pretty darn tasty. Laugh far more than the movie probably intended and thoroughly enjoyed picking out the various Disney movies that were mimicked in this one. Followed by the world's most efficient trip to Wegman's and a delightful cold dinner to balance out all the baked goods and greasy foods of the day :). Overall a thoroughly enjoyable day, and it's not even over!

A good sort of Monday

Today involved...

sleeping until woken by coughing (not fun, though it ended a stressful dream)

getting a good morning call from my mom (very nice)

not having to rush to get ready for my early class

sitting in the sunshine while reading a book

discovering the mildewy smell in my apartment (turns out my humidifier mildews in just a few days), and cleaning it all out (tiring, but fulfilling)

watching a lot of TV episodes online

getting the good news that Netflix can now be watching on my Wii!

having pretty fast response on a help question for my math software

a pretty walk with friends in the sunshine, past many flowers and the closest waterfall

cuddling with my new favorite cat in the world, much of the day

a surprise package from the parents :)

and now time for dinner!

Ella!

"Honey, there's no such thing as crazy. There's just degrees of interesting."

I particularly enjoyed this line from the new book I'm reading. And I'm particularly enjoying lying in the sunshine, reading a book, with my new cat curled up and purring with me.

Ella is the sweetest, most cuddly cat I've ever met, and she's warming up to her new home splendidly. She came home with me from the SPCA yesterday afternoon, and she's already playing, eating (a lot!), and cuddling with me when she's not playing with me. It's delightful. She doesn't meow really at all, unless it's the middle of the night... I woke up last night thinking a child was crying, when in fact it was Ella. And it was especially startling that her meow sounds a whole lot like my name... it probably had something to do with the fact that I was half asleep and trying to figure out why a child was crying in my apartment, but still. She has incredibly soft fur, the cutest tiger stripes, and her eyes change color. She wasn't really happy with the flash of the camera, for the picture, but she has big round eyes that are sometimes brown, sometimes green, sometimes hazel, and sometimes almost orange.

I must say I'm a little scared, given my previous cat experience, but here's to hoping she doesn't go crazy on me.

Two updates in one day? This is unheard of!

I just want to put out there in the cosmos that my memory and being on top of things seems to be disappearing these days. For the first time in my life, I'm not entirely on top of everything. I can't rely on simply remembering everything and not having something fall behind. This evening, as I was trying to catch up, I realized just how much I hadn't done, and yet I'm exhausted after doing a tiny sliver of it. I feel like I've bit off more than I can chew with keeping up with school, doctor's appointments, friends and family, taking time for myself and my health, and the other commitments that I had before this semester and the illness happened. Send prayers and good thoughts please.

And if I forget to do something, please be patient with me.

A personal health day

Today, I took a personal health day. Having not gone to sleep until after midnight, and waking up many times due to my cold, I slept until almost 11 am this morning, since I turned off my alarm. After deciding not to go back to the Health Center to see a doctor again, I realized that the rest of the week would be worthless unless I took today to recuperate from the last week and all the traveling of the weekend.

After breakfast around lunch time, I headed out to take a walk outside, as the sun was finally out. It was a beautiful day, and I found a new trail that ran across what I think becomes the Cascadilla Creek. The walk was wonderful, the sounds of the wind were incredible, and the view of the river/creek in the sunshine and the landscape were wonderful.

Then I headed over to the SPCA to play with the cats. I spent over an hour and a half just petting and playing and getting to know the cats they have there. It was absolutely delightful, and I'm getting closer to choosing a new cat. I'm going to visit a couple more times before finally deciding!

After playing with kittens and cats, I got delicious food at Wegmans and now I'm attempting to get some work done for my teaching class. I hope tomorrow will be filled with mathematical productivity!