Sleep Apnea Test results

Hello to all! I was in the sleep lab on Saturday night and just was told that I do have sleep apnea! So now I have to go again on the 9^th of August and then to see Dr Gurta on the 19 of September…AND I THOUGHT THAT I WAS ALMOST DONE!   I know all this testing is done for a purpose BUT it is taking so long! Hopefully I will get a surgery date in October!

Kim,

I feel your pain. Since 80% of all overweight people have this, they should just schedule your sleepovers & follow-ups upfront.
I was not able to schedule my surgeon's appt. until AFTER my 2nd appt. following the tests. So that means since the second week of March I've been making/going to appointments regarding sleep. It was also difficult because my tests were at Newport Hosp. which has only two beds.
The irony is that losing weight is usually a cure for apnea.
My other tests were a breeze compared to this. Except for the blood test. They took 3 sticks to get it all. But at least it was over in one trip - no appt. needed.
Next wk. I go for the 8 wk. sleep follow-up & the wk. after that to my surgeon I had hoped to be finished surgery at this point or close to it.
Oh, well.

Islander

wow....I hope I dont have to keep going back over and over, my PCP said I most likely had sleep apnea, and I was able to get an apointment for Sept 1 at Newport for the overnight, I'm curious what your first appointment there was all about? This is my first and I didnt seem to have much trouble getting in. I'm sorry you've had to go through so much, hopefully suregery will be soon though!

Dear Angela, Part of the holdup was that I knew my husband had apnea & so I figured that he would go if I was going.  So we needed BOTH beds. I've had so many sleep appts. it's hard to keep them all straight.  The first was primarily with the nurse-practitioner at the sleep center (not my PCP).  We gave her our forms & then she asked us both questions.  Then she gave us a quick physical & looked down our throats.  She then decided we needed further testing & it was THEN that we set up the studies. Neither of us slept long enough the first night, so we had to return for the second night.  After this we had another appt. with the Nurse-P from the sleep center to review the results & go over the equipment that we would be getting.  Then she gave us 8 wk. follow-ups. But the good news is that I do sleep better.  It just takes me ages to actually fall asleep with the equipment & noise. And no more nightmares.

Thats wonderful that its helping. I guess I was fortunate in that what you had with the NP, my PCP did with me in my regular physical, so I skipped right ahead to the overnight test, I got my paperwork to fuill out in todays mail and it says my followup is with my PCP, so I'm sure they will waste no time, they've been wonderful at getting all  my appointments in order and quickly too! I dont have a psychiatric appt yet, but I guess I will find out more about that once I go to Dr Pohls seminar next week (I cant wait!) I'm hoping to have all my tests done or scheduled before I see Dr Pohl since I know it will probably take a while to get my first appointment. I'm sorry you've had so many problems, but hopefully you will get through the sleep studies and get your date soon, Let us know!

Dear Angela, You are a GENIUS!  I bow before you.  You worked out such a simple solution!  No one has ever suggested this.  You cut out the middle person & turned a 5-6 mos. episode into one taking less than two months.  I salute you!  Where were you a few months ago???  I could have been finished this whole thing months ago by just going to my PCP & requesting the test. Unbelievably simple. Sheer genius! Your admirer, Islander

awww, I wish I could take more credit, but the truth is that it just happened that way. I'm sure others here have much more experience and wisdom than I do in how everything goes.  I am very fortunate in the fact that my PCP fully supports me in this decision and is doing everything he can to help in the process. I truly feel blessed to have the PCP I do, hes very thorough and caring and genuinely wants to help where he can. I'm still in the beginning stages, so it may slow down considerably, I look for the time to get in to see Dr Pohl to be quite a while, also there are still appts to be made for psych and Nut, so who knows how long they will take.  One thing I can recommend, Newport was able to put me on a cancellation list, so if an appointment comes open before mine, they will call and let me come in earlier. There is also the option of letting them know you're open to going to East Providence if thats a possibility for you. They told me they can usually get you into East Providence very quickly.  Who knows maybe we'll meet up at Newport some time..lol.

Dear Angela, You're way too modest.  I've been reading these boards for months & never heard of  this idea.  Calling for cancellations is a good idea.  The problems for me was that it really didn't do any because there was no way to speed up the evaluation appt. Islander

i had my overnight on july 17.  i was to have my followup with the np yesterday afternoon at 4:30. at 5:15 she came out and told me that the people *****ad the studies--in maine--are on strike or something and they haven't gotten the results yet.  this is the last thing to do before i get the blood work done and get my second appointment with dr. ryder.  i had it all scheduled to be at the lab at 7:30 this morning and to call the dr's office as soon as the blood work was done--needless to say i was majorly bummed out.  the np said that i should hear from them in three days ----i'm  calling everyday until i hear.  this has been going on since february and i'm getting tired of waiting.  caroline  

At South County Hospital' s sleep lab, if you show signs of apnea they wake you up and fit you with a CPAP so you kill two birds with one stone (or visit) LOL  I hated trying to get that gel out of my hair.