Book #26 of 2014: Sheepsquatch // Sleep Study: UGH

[thistlechaser]

Sheepsquatch by I. Ronik
Rating: 2/disliked (1-5/hated-loved)
(Book received free for review from Streetlight Graphics Publishing .)



You know, if a book bills itself as being bad, it should be. With a title like Sheepsquatch, I thought this book would have to be amusingly bad. It wasn't. It wasn't even plain-bad (though it wasn't good, either).

A comment on Amazon compared it to one of those bad SyFy movies, which was pretty accurate. Unfortunately, what works for a movie (not caring about the characters because they're all stupid and will be dead soon) doesn't work in a book.

There's not much plot to explain. A Sheepsquatch (or, I suppose to be more exact, a were-sheepsquatch) is loose in the woods and likes to kidnap women. The police are trying to catch it. Unfortunately the chief of police has a fatal flaw: When he saw a dead woman, he had a massive heart attack and died. The book outright said it was because he saw a dead body. (Not grossly killed or gory or anything.) How in the world does one survive as a copy long enough to become chief if he will fall over dead when he sees a dead body? (I know, I know, the book description says "it's best not taken seriously", but how can one read a book without questioning things like that?)

The subtitle was what sold the book to me. "It's ba-aaad." Sheepsquatch. Ba-aad. I'm easily amused.

The writing was surprisingly good. Not like "wow I have to stop reading to admire that sentence!" good, but no typos and no grammar issues. That was a nice change from the books I've been reading lately.

There was one odd issue: There must have been a typo in the file name(?). On the home screen of my Kindle, the book's title shows as Sleepsquatch instead of Sheep.

---

Speaking of sleep... This five day sleep study is going to be the death of me. I didn't sleep Sunday night, so I came into this already very short on sleep. I got about 45 minutes of sleep last night (30 minutes of that when I took off the stupid machine and tried to get a brief nap in before my alarm went off).

Forget about waterboarding, they should put the Guantanamo detainees on CPAP machines.

For those lucky enough not to know, CPAP machines force air into you while you sleep, to keep you breathing steadily. Your mouth/nose gets covered with a mask, a hose attached to the mask, and air is pushed in at wind tunnel force. I'm not exaggerating, there is real wind coming out of the hose. So yeah, you're trying to sleep with a mask on, if the mask slips at all you get WIND hitting you in the eyes, the mask is attached to a big hose, the hose to a small-ish machine (so don't turn over or it might knock the machine off your bedside stand!). Plus for these first five days I get to be wired up to a finger oxygen/pulse sensor as well.

I'm a light sleeper. Someone walking by on the sidewalk outside my apartment wakes me up. I also can't sleep with the covers even touching my chin, let alone anything covering my mouth. And I'm supposed to be able to sleep with this setup?

I have to do this for four more nights. I've gotten three hours of sleep total in the last two nights, and I doubt I'll get much more while on this damned study. I'm so exhausted now, I think I'll be a danger near the end of the week.

Why am I doing this? The third in a series of miserable sleep studies? Just another damned hoop I have to jump through to get surgery. Sigh.

Comments

[manue7a.livejournal.com]

This sounds awful. Maybe the study takes five nights because they're hoping you'de be so exhausted by the fifth night you will fall asleep with that mask on at least for a little while?

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

That's what I figure. I bet they think by the final days you'll be so exhausted that you'll sleep and they'll get their data. Blah.

[hamburger.livejournal.com]

Oh dear! I had to read back a bit to catch up on your current situation since I'd been LJ AWOL for a long while - I really hope this all ends up being worthwhile in the long run.

... and isn't that a goat's head? That Sheepsquatch is just a very confused Goatsquatch!

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I hope so, too. It's getting harder to keep hoping though. :/

And haha that's a good point! Maybe the were-Sheepsquatch actually shifts between a Goatsquatch and a Sheepsquatch instead of between a person and a Sheepsquatch.

[ghost-light.livejournal.com]

I don't think I could stand a CPAP. lonelydumptruck has one and it's like sleeping next to Darth Vader some nights.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I couldn't imagine having to deal with it if I slept with someone else. It's bad enough it tortures me, I don't want to keep other people up, too!

Funny story, but it kept my poor cat awake all night. She finally got up and left the bedroom.

[ghost-light.livejournal.com]

Poor kitty!

[tersa.livejournal.com]

flit, when she was active on LJ, used to go on at length about her issues with her CPAP. If the default set-up isn't working for you, you may want to try reaching out to whichever specialist is working with you on it about alternatives to the default.

*several minutes later, after wading through her past LJ posts* She had a couple of changes made for her case, including a smaller mask (she's kind of a wee thing), and instead of a CPAP machine, she uses a BiPAP. It seems to work slightly differently than a CPAP and works better for her than a CPAP ever did.

Also, they may need to adjust the pressure setting. I just stumbled on one of her posts commenting that side sleepers need less pressure than back sleepers, for example, and a lot of her wrangling was trying to dial in the right pressure for her.

I'm a pretty light sleeper myself, but I've found you can get used to weird things (for me, a sleep mask) over enough exposure. This is hopefully just an adjustment period. :)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info! Since this is just the first night, I'm not giving up on it. (Though at the moment I strongly feel that, once I'm done with this darned study, I'll never use the machine again since no one will be "checking". I know that's the exhaustion talking though.)

Hmm, good thought about the pressure. I am a side sleeper, which makes it harder since I switch from side to side instead of staying still.

[tea-blossom.livejournal.com]

I've only done one sleep study and it was awful. I hope you get better sleep soon!

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Thank you! This is my third, and that's three too many. I hope you do, too!

[resonant.livejournal.com]

It took about a month, but now that I'm used to it, I LOVE my CPAP. My blood pressure dropped from 140/80 to 110/80 in a week, and I don't fall asleep in meetings any more!

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's great to hear! Part of my issue is that I don't really believe I have apnea. I have none of the symptoms: I wake feeling rested, never nap or fall asleep during the day, don't snore/stop breathing at night (or so someone else tells me). The sleep center was so unprofessional during the first two tests that said I have it (two because they messed up the first one after I did it), I have trouble believing them. :/

Hopefully I'll come to like it anyway and it'll be worth it.

[ashmedai.livejournal.com]

Oh man, that sounds horrid. I can't even sleep in a different position, let alone being hooked up to a CPAP machine. I'm not surprised you're exhausted. :(

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yep. I got a couple hours of sleep last night, but that doesn't cover three night's worth of sleep. I still feel horrible.

Just two more nights of this to get through!

I'm with you, I always sleep in the same position (on my side). I couldn't sleep on my back or stomach.

[gconnor.livejournal.com]

Like a lot of folks... I *love* my machine and *hate* my mask. I used to have trouble with air going in my nose and out my mouth, and chin strap didn't help. So I finally opted for a nose-and-mouth mask, and it works whether I open my mouth or not.

Having a humidifier attachment makes a huge difference too. I used to wake up congested, now I don't get congested at night, even if I have a stuffed up nose during the day.

Good luck!

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

The humidifier is the one good part about it. I always wake up with my tongue, mouth, lips, and throat so dry I can't even swallow (and my lips crack and bleed if I'm not careful), so that helps a whole lot.

I did try the nose-only one first, but that one seemed to make the pressure in my sinuses really bad, plus I mostly breathe through my mouth at night, so I stuck with the mouth and nose one.

Thanks! It's helpful to hear how the machine helps people.

[spike7451.livejournal.com]

It all sounds terrible, I really hope you have managed some sleep by now.

One of my sisters in law has to use a CPAP machine and I know it took ages for her to get used to it. She had to get a smaller mask as she couldn't cope with so much of her face covered and she ended up getting the pressure changed too I think.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I got about five hours of sleep twice in the last five nights, so... that's something? :P