I really wish someone would have filled in the blanks for us first time sleep study participants. Thanks to a previous doctors visit elsewhere, I know what type of information is collected during a study. However, there are a number of things I felt the clinic should have informed me of beforehand.
For example, how dirty the facility is. Just like any hotel, the sheets had stains on them, the furniture had unidentifiable smears of who knows what & the bathroom walls were stained. There was also a lot of dust everywhere & either the toilet or sink was leaking as there was a large puddle upon my arrival. When I went in search of someone with a mop; I was stopped by a woman in a very accusatory voice & rude attitude " Where do you think you're going"? When I explained that there was a leak she seemed annoyed & said they don't have maintenance & threw a towel on the floor. Everything in my room was outdated, the blanket & pillows couldn't have been cheaper.
Yet these things were a slight annoyance compared to how noisy my stay was. You think the clinic would have top of the line sound proofing; after all it is a sleep study but you could hear every single annoying sound. From the bathroom to people talking, the overly loud heating & cooling system, the tv's and painful fluorescent lights...and the equally annoying bright night light & machines. But what really pissed me off is that I have Scopophobia & although it's on record; not one person told me you are observed by a camera- thanks a**hats! So even if I wanted to sleep (because of course I had to work the next day) I wouldn't have been able to because my anxiety was 110% through the roof.
And if your one of the many women who don't bother to shave your legs during winter months; you might want to reconsider as (yet again) no one told me they also place wires on your legs. They also failed to provide me with an address to the clinic nor inform me that I could bring reading material. The receptionist at the other clinic asked which location I would like to do my study at, Mogador or Akron. I choose Mogador because it's closer for me; here she meant Mogador Road & not the city but I didn't know that until the day of....very disorganized and uncomfortable environment! read more