Tag: Sleep

Stressing

Surgery is in 16 days and I am stressing a little. Not about the surgery itself, but about some things that go along with it.

I need to book a Covid-19 test three days before the surgery. They gave me a few clinics I can go to. I spent a lot of time on the phone with two of them today, trying to schedule a test, and never spoke to a human. Jen reminded me that today is a state holiday in Massachusetts, so that might be why. Still… if you’re not home today, add that to your voice message.

I haven’t had caffeine since February 3rd (I think). I haven’t missed it. Even last Wednesday when I did my 38 hour sleep-free stretch, I was never wishing I could have some caffeine. I am today though. I am jonzing go-juice in a big way. I’m exhausted and I could really use a little help staying focused. I can’t though. I can never have caffeine again.

I do have one little piece of good news, surgically speaking. I checked the documentation they gave me to see what restrictions there are on lifting things immediately post-op. It says not to lift anything over 25 pounds for six weeks after the surgery. Why is that important to me? The average weight of a Gibson Les Paul is around 10 pounds. That’s a ton in the guitar world, but it’s far below my limit. Sigh of musical relief.

I’m Still Alive, Mostly

Wow. Yesterday sucked. I’m not going to recap any of the details pertaining to my mother’s day in the hospital, but I will give a quick recap of my own day.

My SleepWatch app tells me that I woke up at 5:55am on Tuesday morning. Pretty normal. I did a full day’s work, I had dinner with the love of my life, we made some good progress in our How I Met Your Mother binge-fest, we turned in for the night but I didn’t go to sleep. Instead I watched Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 as part of my fun, very time consuming marvel rewatch. The movie finished a little before midnight, which was dumb. I should have gone to sleep earlier and finished the movie the next day. I didn’t though.

I sat up in bed for a little while longer and I think I may have nodded off a little around 12:30. I woke up quick though because my phone rang. My sister let me know that my mother was going to the ER and she asked if I could meet her there. I got dressed, filled up my water bottle, grabbed a charger and some ear buds and off I went.

20 minutes later I was in my mother’s room in the ER, and there I stayed. She slept through the night but I stayed up because I didn’t want her to wake up alone. I watched episode two of MoonKnight on my phone and started watching Avengers Age of Ultron, but my brain was getting fuzzy at that point and I stopped. I acknowledge the clock passing 5:55am, meaning I had been awake for 24 hours (minus the maybe two minutes before the phone rang) and then I leaned my head against the wall and tried to doze. I think I was successful, but only for a few minutes. 10 minutes tops.

My mother woke up around 9:00am and I was very busy for a few hours. Very busy. She fell asleep again by noon and I had a couple of hours to rest. I tried to nap again but if I was able to fall asleep it was only for a few minutes. When my mother woke up I was once again very busy for a few hours. They discharged her at around 4:30pm. I was very worried that I would have to drive her home without having slept for over 32 hours. Fortunately the hospital offered us a wheelchair van to take her home. I was very happy to accept. I didn’t mind driving myself, but I was really nervous about driving her.

I went to my parents’ building to help get the wheelchair downstairs to their room. I then filled everyone in on what my brain was still able to process and then I went home. I walked in the door just before 6:00pm. Jen and I had dinner together and went down cellar to check out the new paint job. We went to bed a little after 8:00pm. I don’t think Jen was ready for bed at all, but she was nice enough to sit up with me. She’s amazing, you know. I tried to watch episode three of MoonKnight but I only got a few minutes into it before I gave up and went to sleep. SleepWatch tells me I was asleep at 8:25pm. The sleep-free streak was 38.5 hours, minus the few minutes I grabbed here and there. My watch didn’t register any of the time I thought I might have been asleep, so maybe I dozed and maybe I didn’t. I tried, but maybe I was just sitting there with my eyes closed for longer than I realized. Who knows.

38.5 hours without sleep. Yeah… that was rough, but I made it through and lived to tell the tale via a blog post that will live forever in the wilds of the internet. Or something like that.

Still in the ER.

It’s been almost 31 hours since I was last asleep in my bed. I’ve managed a couple of quick cat naps along the way. You know what? Let’s call them Power Naps.

It’s looking like my mother will be going home today with a sling on her arm. For a while there they were talking about admitting her but that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore.

Here’s hoping this wraps up soon with her safe at home and me safe at home taking another Power Nap.

What a day, right?

All Nighter

It’s 5:57am. As of two minutes ago I have officially pulled an all nighter.

I’m 50 years, 11 months, and five days old.

In the immortal words of Roger Murtaugh, I am too old for this shit.*

*Thats a reference to the Lethal Weapon movie series. Replace the word shit with stuff and it’s a reference to How I Met Your Mother

Sleepy

I stayed up really late last night. I didn’t want to, but I was so busy all day that I never had a chance to do some of the things I wanted to do (laundry) and I ended up doing it all after Jen fell asleep. I finally fell asleep around 1:00am and given that I can say without any hesitation that I am ridiculously tired right now.

While I was up last night Harry sent me a text saying that he listened to a Rush album and really liked it. It was Moving Pictures, of course. It was one of the happiest moments of my life. Harry could be a Rush fan, oh glorious day!

He sent me a text a few minutes ago asking me which Rush records to listen to next.

My response was a 100,000,000 word essay.

As I said earlier, oh glorious day!

Here’s a summary of what I told him:

  • You’ve listened to Moving Pictures, now go to Permanent Waves. They both had a similar focus on trying to shorten their songs without sacrificing any musical craziness.
  • Most people who don’t think Moving Pictures is the best album think that 2112 is. It’s heavy and Geddy screams a lot, but it’s pretty much perfect.
  • For 80’s synth Rush go with Power Windows. I wish I could say Hold Your Fire, but the last two songs don’t really cut it.
  • For the 90’s they got heavy again. Go with Counterparts.
  • Clockwork Angels might be my favorite of all Rush albums.
  • Fly By Night is mostly a straight ahead rock record.
  • Hemispheres is amazing end to end, but it’s worth it just for La Villa Strangiato.

That’s Better

Wednesday night’s awful sleep combined with a tough day at work combined with the Covid stress of going to the office left me a bit of a mess last night. I managed to pull off the rest of the exercise ring but I’m not exactly sure how. I was toast.

Last night’s sleep was better. I went to bed around 10:30. I woke up a little after 4:00 to go to the bathroom and my watch didn’t register any sleep after that. I know I slept more but maybe it was really light? I don’t know. What my watch did register was almost all restful sleep including one stretch that lasted over an hour. I don’t feel great this morning, but I do feel better than I did yesterday.

Bad sleep blows.

The contractor we’ve had working on the kitchen and dining room expects to finish the painting tonight. I am so happy with the way it’s going. It looks great so far. He’ll have to come back next week for the finishing work but that’s a-ok with me.

For me right now, Star Trek Picard season two episode three. I have about 10 minutes to go. Good stuff so far.

Non-Lunch Post

We’re coming to the end of another work day spent in the office. How many more will there be at this desk? I don’t know. A few, probably.

It’s been a hectic and stressed out day. I’m not sure how, but I managed to do everything right as far as the weight loss surgery prep steps are concerned. I’m up to date on my vitamins (still have one more to take with dinner), and I tracked all of my food, and I stopped drinking more than 15 minutes before eating, and I didn’t drink again for over an hour after eating.

My exercise ring is half closed. That’s due to the long walk from the car to my desk, and the long walk from my desk to the kitchenette and back, and the long walk from my desk to the bathroom and back. I think wearing a mask contributes to the increased heart rate as well, but I don’t have proof of that.

The building recently switched from masks required in all common areas to masks optional for vaccinated folks. I think it’s too soon for that, but I have to deal with it. My mask was on in all common areas but I was in the minority. Will peer pressure eventually remove my mask? I don’t think so but I can’t say for sure. The Covid numbers are way down for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I would like to take approximately 1/6,893,000th of the credit for that. At least that much. I kept my mask on and kept those around me safe from the virus that I don’t have. That’s not sarcasm. That’s honesty. Wear your effing mask.

Anyway, I was able to eat lunch today, but I was not really able to take a lunch break. That’s why there’s no lunch post from today, and that’s why I titled this post the way I did.

I might look into a new theme for this page. It might be time. Maybe something black and gloomy. Yeah, that would be cool. Black and gloomy is tight.

Now I need to get my exhausted ass home so I can eat dinner with the love of my life, check out how far the paint job got while I was out, watch the new episode of Star Trek Picard, and then finally get some of that sleep that I didn’t get any of last night.

Almost quittin’ time, babie!

No Sleep Tonight

I went to bed at 11:30.

I woke up at 1:00 because my CPAP mask came unsealed.

I woke up at 2:00 because my CPAP mask came unsealed again. I replaced the whole effing harness.

I woke up at 3:30 because one of the smoke detectors started the low battery chirp thing. It’s 4:15 and I haven’t fallen back to sleep yet.

It’s like the pre-CPAP days all over again.