What a morning!
I hadn't been seated in the very full waiting room for more than five minutes when the guy who did my CT scan came to the door and called my name. As he began to walk me past the examining room doors, I quickly realized something was up.
"Ummm ... you're not taking me back for another CT scan are you?"
"Yes, I am."
I screamed on the inside, I don't think so.
"I am not here for a CT scan. I'm here to get the final results of the last one I had and for the results of my sleep study."
He told me to go back and have a seat while he checked on it.
About five minutes later he came to the door and shock his head no.
Whew!
Then we sat for the next hour. While Mary and I sat and chatted, I became more and more anxious to get out to there.
You see, we had plans to head to visit my friend, Robyn, and to meet her newest little miracle, Samuel. Time was ticking, and I wanted to get on the road.
Finally I was called back ... only to wait for another 45 minutes.
His nurse discovered they didn't have the results of my sleep study yet and had to call to get them. They hadn't even been typed up, so we had to wait until they finished the report and faxed it to them.
Patience is not one of my gifts.
Just as I was about to stick my head out the door and ask if they had forgotten me, Dr. Keith and his nurse came through the door.
He sat down and gave me the results of my CT scan.
It was normal. The mass behind my left ear is actually fatty tissue.
Praise the LORD for that!
But then he gave me the results of my sleep study.
Let me preface this by saying, I don't even remember sleeping that much. It seemed like I dozed for a couple of hours, and it felt like a very long night.
He told me that my results were the worst he had ever seen. "I might have seen worse, but I don't remember if I have."
Seriously?!?!
In one hour, I stopped breathing 153 times!! That evens out to every 2 1/2 minutes. My O2 sats dropped into the 60's.
I looked at Mary to see if I was hearing him correctly. I could tell by the look on her face I had.
He told me most other people's numbers are around 30.
For the next 10 minutes or so he spouted off a treatment plan. Not an appealing one I must say.
I need to be titrated for a CPAP/BiPAP machine ASAP, he told me.
Surgery maybe needed to remove my tonsils and do something to my palate because it hangs low.
And I may need a trach at some point.
I had to tell him to stop. All I needed to know was the next step. My heart was beating out of my chest, and I started sweating.
Mary said he was trying to get across to me how serious this really is.
Once he finished he walked me up to the checkout desk. He rattled off a bunch of instructions to the girl at the counter about making an appointment with a pulmonologist and a follow-up appointment with him.
While she was on the phone making my pulmonary appointment, I heard him talking to the nurse manager. He told her my appointment for my CPAP/BiPAP was urgent. I needed to get in within the next few days and if they didn't have an opening, he needed to talk to them.
I felt like I was in a dream. I had gone to him for a knot behind my ear that wouldn't go away, and this is what I find out.
So tonight at 8:00 p.m. I go back to the sleep center to be titrated.
I'm going to be honest, I'm scared about this whole situation.
Darryl has urged me for years to have a sleep study done. Mary told me last night that every time she would be with me overnight she would go home and tell Darryl he needed to make me have something done.
He would adamantly tell her he couldn't make me do anything. My stubbornness and my "I think I know better than you" attitude often gets in the way.
Ugh, I'm so full of sin!
I get it now. I get the seriousness of my situation.
At least I don't have a malignant tumor behind my ear, and it's not a blockage in my carotid artery that's getting inflamed. I'm so thankful for that!!
I pray the machine works, and the next step doesn't have to be taken.
Jesus, now would be a perfect time for You to come.
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