Enter Sandman

Last night, I had another sleep study.

If you read my previous post on this subject, I have been diagnosed with sleep apnea. No matter how much sleep I got, I was always exhausted. It has led to a number of other problems, including high blood pressure.

Well, last night the solution came.

But before I get there, let me tie this in to my music — a bit of history that I’ve kept hidden.

In November of last year, I released my first album, evolution, on Jamendo. At the time, I was struggling with exhaustion in the afternoons. I would counterbalance that by drinking an entire pot of coffee. This allowed me to avoid taking a nap. I did not want my days “wasted” by sleep.

That first album proved to be pretty popular. Even today, I still get positive reviews — and believe me, the words of encouragement matter. If you are a fan of independent music, sometimes you do not realize how much you really and truly matter — the words of encouragement can often get us musicians through even the darkest times.

Just 3 months later, I released my second Jamendo album, handmade. The reviews weren’t as great, but the downloads keep on coming. Some people have apparently liked it a lot. In May, I even had someone contact me and tell me they had used “A Spy in the House of Pancakes” on a student film project! I was honored.

But at the same time, May was an awful sort of turning point. Years ago, I had a problem with high blood pressure (mostly related to stress). Since then, I had been monitoring my blood pressure at least once a month. Well, in May, I tried it, and the number was high — 162 / 103. I thought, Well, this is just a fluke. I’ll try again next week.

Next week it was even higher.

In fact, every time I checked, it was high. And so I scheduled an appointment with my doctor. I also stopped drinking that entire pot of coffee.

Unfortunately, that meant I found myself too drowsy in the evenings to get anything done. I tried practicing, I tried composing, but I found myself — well, the feeling I could best compare it to is drowning. Imagine you are at sea. There’s been a shipwreck. You can only keep afloat by paddling. The sun burns you, and the sea is cool. Your arms and legs are getting tired.

Better to sink and end the pain.

Or so I felt.

I had just completed a three month long project I called the Woodshed, an intensive practice period. During May, I accomplished almost nothing. Then, the end of school came: I had a week of teacher training to suffer through, followed by a week of vacation in the Baltimore area.

Months ago, I planned on starting recording for my third Jamendo album in June. As of today, I have plans, but no tracks. As I said in my first article, the album is partially named for that drowning feeling I’ve had all year — La vie sous la mer (”Life Under the Sea”).

But last night, there was a solution.

During my sleep study, they started me on a therapy called CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure). I’m happy to report that it worked — I woke up this morning and, for once, didn’t feel like I’d been the piñata at a particularly psychotic kid’s birthday party. Even now, as I sit here writing this, I see it is nearly 1 pm — the time I have been conking out. But I’m wide awake.

For me, it’s a new beginning. Enter Sandman, and this time with open arms.

[This article was crossposted to my Dandelife blog.]