Larry's Trip to Iowa University for his sleep study!!! Updated I am glad we do not have to do this any more.

I am so glad we do not have to do this any more. 10-16-09

We moved back to Michigan April of 2009.

 On Monday night we headed out to Iowa City!!!(Well this is the 2nd time trying to post  I spent 20 mins on the article and Gather lost it somewhere in Gatherland!) Larry had to be there at 8:00pm.

 We took Angel & Katie with us, we never left them at home overnight. So while Larry is doing his sleep study we are sleeping in the car in the parking structure. If any of you know how they are its very hard to sleep there. lol.

 We arrived at the University of Iowa Sleep Study Building at 7:00pm , there was another patient waiting in the garden park next to the building . He told us they will not let us in till at least 7:30 so we went into the Main Hosptial and got something to eat since we did not have dinner yet.

 When we were finished we headed over to the sleep study building it was 7:45 pm. They greeted us in the hallway after we had to use the call button to get in since it was after 5:00 pm.

 The nurse took us right to his room , I looked all around it was just like a hotel room. He had his own bathroom with a handheld shower. Fullsize bed, flatscreen tv and a beautiful view of the garden. It was after 8:00 pm when they started to wire Larry up for the sleep study.  (Some of you already know that my first husband had the sleep apena.) It was quite diffrent they did not use a cpap machine which I was surprized they didn't. They had a nose pc like they do when they put someone on oxgen. They wired him up more than they did with my  Mark my first husband.

I told Larry it was like he was getting ready for a Si Fi Movie. lol So he got to watch tv for awhile. Then came back in and put more wiring on him . This time they had to glue pads onto his head and use a special blow dryer to dry the glue so it will stick while he was sleeping.

It was not till about 10:30 pm they got him hooked up to everything for him to go to sleep. Well then I had to leave, they would not let me stay there.  So I kissed Larry goodbye told him I would see him in the morning.

 I went through the parking structure to get Angel and Katie out of the car and take them for a walk before I called it a night. Angel of course her being so independant she had to take the lead. She took us all over the hospital grounds , met several employees which she had to check them out make sure they belonged. She lead us even to the building where the University held classes so yes we ran into a lot of Medical Students. Angel had to check them out also.

 They did have a lighted areas but it was still dark and Angel was leading us to places I have never been to on the University grounds. I was getting up a sweat since we were walking already for about a half hour. I told Angel please we need to head back or we will be lost till morning. lol

 So Angel turned around well to me everything thing looked the same. Me in the dark forget it , I would be like one of those people in a horror movie. I asked Angel are you sure you are going the right way? She looked back at me and gave me the weirdest smirk. Then headed forward again, well sure enough we started getting back to somethings I reconized sure enough we got to this park with the double swings that you get on and you pull the bar and it swings. I put Angel and Katie on one side I got on the other. Angel laid down and enjoyed the swing ride. Katie was not too impressed by it.

 After about 5 mins I said ok we have to head back to the car. When we headed back I just realized the park was only 50 feet from the building we left Larry at. We got to the car , gave them their water. Set their beds in the front seat of the car and I put the covers and pillows in the back for me. I was going to read my book "You have been Warned"but decided I was too tired to read.

 Well first of all the lights from the parking structure blinded my eyes.  So I tossed and turned all night. Angel and Katie everytime some one drove by or got out of their car they had to bark. After about an hour they finally fell asleep.

 Well it was 7:30 in the morning and I thought maybe I should get changed and freshed up alittle before I go check up on Larry.

 When I arrived at the sleep study building and went in I talked to one of the nurses and she said Larry wanted to sleep a little while longer. So I got the kids out of the car to take them for a walk and potty break.  We went through the garden it was so nice they still had flowers blooming. So when the Angel and Katie were done I took them back to the car and took my camera out and started taking some pictures. Well it got to be around 8:30 so I thought I would head back to the sleep study building. Larry still was not up so I went into the lounge and watched some tv and took out my book "You have been Warned" Well I finished my book then thought maybe I would go back to the car and took the kids out again.

 Well it was after 9:30 am when Larry strolled out of the building. We took the dogs back to the car. Larry had to get a test done on his eyes for his diabetes. So we went into the main hospital stopped at the pharmacy to put his order of refills in then went for brunch. After we ate we went to the Opthalmologist office. He had to get his eyes dialated, so after they did the test he had to wear those thin dark glasses.

 Well we went back to the pharmacy they were not ready yet so we had something to eat. Then got the meds and went back to the car. Took the dogs for a little walk and went home.

 On Thursday morning Larry received a call from University of Iowa and said he has to get the test done again the sleep study , this time he will be hooked up to the cpap(now if they would have done that in the first place we would not have to go back) So we have to make another trip to Iowa City on 10-06-08.

 Well I am so glad I kept Mark's cpap machine since it will cost up to $8000 for a cpap machine. Is not covered by the insurance , so the only thing  we will have to pay for is the new tubing/mask which will cost around $200 and still the insurance will not cover.

 I am going to use eBay to get the cpap accessories, it will be a lot cheaper than going through a medical store they rip you off.

 So there will be a few more updates on this story.

I was not able to get all the pictures in the essay so please check out the rest.

Thanks for visiting and reading my article.

Now we are waiting for the Doctor to say yes here is the script for the cpap machine so we can order the tubing and mask. Then we have to make an appointment for sleep study dept. at University for them to regulate the cpap machine. So now we just wait..I do hope we do not have to wait for his next appointment to find out...But I think that is going to be how it works. That appointment is in November. </b> Thanks for all your support and prayers.