November 24, 2008
So Sick of Being Sick!
Argh!
I hate the first cold of the season! It seems to hang on forever! What started out as just a head cold has now morphed into something far more sinister.
It always starts with a little scratchy throat, and a lot of denial. The denial doesn’t wear off until the pounding headache, runny nose, eyes, and ears show up to party with the scratchy throat.
The good news is, there’s not much to do besides fill up on the Quil (Day or Ny’) and go to bed.
The bad news is, there are still meetings, phone calls, kids, and chores. If I’m only feeling bad for a couple days, I still try to go on with my day to day stuff. After about day 5, I call in sick to life in general, and stay in bed, daring anyone to question my decision.
Well, I’m so far beyond my ‘day 5′ milestone, I may have developed a slight addiction to my ‘quil & advil combo, and I’m starting to wonder if there is a point where orange juice consumption becomes dangerous.
I went to the doctor yesterday, though I didn’t want to. I hate going to the doctor. That’s where all the sick people are. I don’t want to catch something worse!! Besides, there are few things in life I find as annoying as a visit to the doctor. I made sure to show up early in hopes of getting seen and getting the heck outta there. I made myself as comfy as possible in the waiting room with the hard plastic chairs, as far away from the rest of the sick people as I could get. I grabbed the most recent copy of “Real Simple” magazine, which was only 5 months old.
Speaking of “Real Simple”, shouldn’t a magazine that’s called “Real Simple” be less bulky and cluttered than it is?? It is jam packed with ads! WHY? “Real Simple” – living simply – less clutter – do more with less! And yet, I have to flip through 18 pages of advertisements before I get to the first ‘feature’! To top it off, the advertisements aren’t even for things that could help one make one’s life simpler! They are for the life-cluttering, credit-card-maxing, throw-it-in-the-closet-and-forget-it-exists junk that clogs our lives and makes us feel compelled to buy big heavy magazines dedicated to making life simple!
Ugh, I get terribly crabby when I’m not feeling well. Sorry.
So, they call me from the waiting room to the second waiting room. When did this become the norm?? It used to be, you go to the office at your appointed time, and when the nurse opens The Door and calls your name, that’s it! Your name has been called! YOU get to see the doctor right NOW! Those days are gone. I’ll be telling my grandkids about those days, and they’ll walk away rolling their eyes.
Anyway, I’m waiting in the Second Waiting Room, and just for fun, the nurse decides to see how much I weigh. I’m not sure, but I think they were taking bets on my weight. So, I schlump up onto the scale, my shoulders rounded in defeat, my head hanging low. I felt like I was a contestant on The Biggest Loser. The dramatic dink-dink-dink of the numbers, the slight gasp from the nurse looking over my shoulder, followed by the sympathetic tongue-cluck, a single tear forming in the corner of my eye…
Then I’m sent into the exam room. The doctor comes in, looks at my chart and does he ask about my symptoms? Ask how I’m feeling? Nope. He looks at my chart and says “Ah, getting a little heavy, are we?” Little jerk. I wanted to say “Ah, getting a little bald, are we?” but I figured that would be bad, him being in charge of the prescription pad and all.
He spends all of 3 minutes with me, writes me a prescription for amoxicillin, and walks out of the room. Doesn’t say, “Good day, Chunky.” or “Hope you feel better, Fattie.” or anything – just walks out! Hmph. Fine. I coughed in his general direction as I left.
I figured since I had a prescription, I should go back to work. So, I gave that a shot. That was stupid. I felt horrible. Then I had to drive all the way back home!
And what bout of sickness would be complete without the fever dreams? I don’t know if it’s just me, or if it happens to everyone, but when I’m sick, I have dreams that would give Tim Burton the willies.
I dreamed that I saw my pal Rick on the back of a sea turtle. He was wearing one of those umbrella hats, and shouting “Yee-hah!”.
Wow. Weird.
Then I dreamed I was being chased through a field by a faun. Not a fawn like a baby deer, no. A Faun, one of those creepy half-man half-goat things. He was playing a wooden whistle thing and laughing… Ugh.
So, I shoved my ipod in my ears, hoping that some soothing music would help me sleep. I have a special playlist for all my relaxing songs. I have Antonio Vivaldi on there, he’s one of my favorite composers. Well even Ol’ Vivaldi screwed me up, his music invoked a nightmare that I don’t even want to recount here!
So, 17 days after the first hint of a scratchy throat, I’m fully on the road to recovery. Yeesh!
September 3, 2008
I’m not lazy, I’m just really tired!
Until a year (or so) ago, I thought narcolepsy was a myth. I saw the disorder portrayed on sitcoms and movies, with the “afflicted” falling asleep in the midst of various activities, often with madcap, hilarious results.
I have always been tired. Not just a little sleepy, but the brain-numb, can’t function, I-gotta-take-a-nap-before-I-fall-over tired. I was having trouble making the 35 minute drive to and from work every day. I could roll the windows down, turn the radio up, sing the alphabet and still my eyes would become unfocused and I’d feel myself drift off. I actually began slapping myself in the face when I would drive!
Then, after falling asleep at the wheel, and waking up – by the grace of God – before running a red light at the end of a freeway exit that I didn’t recognize, I decided to see a doctor.
After taking a medical history and checking all the typical stuff, the doctor started asking about my sleep habits. Do I get sleepy when I’m doing something I enjoy, or only when bored? Do I hallucinate? Do I lose muscle control when I am emotionally charged – laughing, crying, startled? Do I feel the need to get up in the middle of the night? How much do I sleep at night? How long is a nap? Do I dream? How much caffeine do I drink in a day?
After talking to him for about 30 minutes, I agreed to a sleep study.
He wanted to rule out sleep apnea before making any other diagnosis.
Upon waking from the sleep study, it was concluded that I did not have apnea. That left the possibility of narcolepsy, and the need for another study. That one took place during the day. My job was to hang around the sleep center, and take four 20-minute naps, with 90-minute periods of wakefulness in between. This would tell the doctor how quickly I fall asleep and how quickly I enter REM state sleep. The hardest part of this test was staying awake for the 90 minute periods! In each of the four naps, I was asleep in less than two minutes, and the quickest I fell asleep was 58 seconds. In three of the four naps, I entered REM sleep, which strongly suggests narcolepsy.
Honestly, it was rather embarassing to be diagnosed as such. However, as with any difficulty I’ve faced, I’ve met it with humor. Notice my web address? 
There is no clear cause for narcolepsy, and currently there is no cure. I take 2 different medications daily to try to control it, and it usually works well. I also try to nap during my lunch break, and make sure I get to bed at a decent hour.
Before I went to the doctor, I had gotten to the point that I was afraid to drive. Not just for my own safety, but for the safety of others. I would call my husband on my cell phone and have him talk to me just to try to keep me alert and engaged in the act of driving until I could get home or to work. There were days that I was so scared of falling asleep at the wheel I would begin to sob – and still be drifting off.
I felt compelled to write about this because I think this disorder is often misunderstood, especially by the family and loved ones of those afflicted. I would urge anyone who experiences excessive daytime sleepiness to contact a doctor right away. Though there’s no cure, and there’s no known cause, there is also (I finally realized) no shame!
Narcolepsy Fact Sheet
