I sent Tracey a message the moment they were handed to me.
I’ve got drugs, baby!
And I’m so glad I did.
It’s been a couple of months in the making, but today was the day I was to get me some answers.
A couple of years ago I was diagnosed with sleep apnea and got myself a wonderful machine which roars into life into whenever I lie down. It’s like plugging myself into the Matrix – the moment the face hugger is on I tend to drift off to another realm.
While this improved things a little – especially around short term memory – it didn’t do as much for my afternoon grogginess.
Still, it wasn’t until Master26 took his own matters further and got a referral to a specialist I thought I should do the same.
The results from the sleep tests I did in Brisbane last Thursday night/Friday were in and they are conclusive. My bloods were in too with a result I wasn’t expecting. My specialist, Professor Roger Allen, went through the list.
“Heart, good. Kidney, good. Liver, good.”
I tried not to show too much surprise, but who’d have guessed that?!
“Thyroid, good.”
He told me what he thought I had – a rare/genetic condition which explains away all the shitty stuff I’ve been putting up with – at which point he lost me for a minute because I had to deal with a little wet saltiness in the corner of my eyes. I didn’t mean to drift but all I could think was there was light at the end of this thirty+ year tunnel. A pinprick at the moment but it was definitely up ahead there in the distance like a goram beacon of hope.
To let you in on the extent of what I’ve been ‘suffering’, most nights I can knock off eight to ten hours sleep and still follow that up with a one, two or three hour nap in the afternoon. It doesn’t sound like proper suffering but the fact is it’s not a choice anymore. I have to nap. If I don’t, things happen. Dumb things like miscalculating where my car ends and the bin starts, or disagreeing with Tracey. The daytime sleep test involved them letting me go to sleep every couple of hours for a nap but waking me up immediately. Five times I drifted off within eight minutes. Without a proper nap I then slept for nearly fourteen hours straight the night after and still managed an afternoon nap that day.
It’s been madness!
This isn’t a new problem though. I’ve always struggled. I just always assumed I felt like I did because…well, you’ve probably got kids. I’ve had them for 26 years (with a mere twelve or so to go – over halfway!).
I nodded a lot, tried to catch up with his explanation of things and agreed to come back after trying the medication he was offering. I figured I could Google whatever else he’d just said.
Drugs in hand, I thanked my wonderful specialist as the next patient (who by a complete coincidence happened to be my son) went in, and messaged Tracey from the reception where the lovely lady behind the counter was finding me an appointment slot in three weeks for a follow up.
YAY! Tracey messaged back. So what’s the diagnosis?
At which point it occurred to me I now knew what Prof Allen was saying to me as I took a moment to compose myself.
“I don’t suppose you can fit me in again today?” I asked the receptionist. “I’ve sort of forgotten what he said I had.”
I’ve got idiopathic CNS hypersomnia. Sounds sexy, eh? All the way home I was singing I want a new drug, by Hewie Lewis & The News.
Raising a family on little more than laughs
This post is not sponsored
But this post is, thanks to Woolworths. Check it out for tips and tricks to saving money on your grocery bill. Channelling my inner prepper