I’m sure I mentioned that my cat has taken to waking me up
in the middle of the night. For a while there I thought I would never get a
decent night’s sleep again.
But one night I was having trouble getting comfortable and I
ended up sleeping propped up in more of a sitting position. And Patches didn’t
jump on me once that night! That isn’t to say he didn’t wake me up; he did,
right around the time he decided he needed his breakfast.
Here is the difference; three or four times a night, he had
been jumping onto me from my desk. Once in the pre-dawn hours, he would crawl
onto me meowing and pushing his nose into my nose. He is still doing that. If I
sleep in a more inclined position, he doesn’t jump on me.
Problem solved, right?
Around this time, I kept waking up with a headache, and I always seemed tired. I finally decided I needed to revisit the idea of a sleep
study.
I wasn’t looking forward to this, because I’d tried it once
before years ago while Tom was still alive. I didn’t sleep one wink hooked up
to all those cables. Now though they can do the study with fewer
cables and it is possible to do it at home.
It took some doing, and getting the appointment to get the
device took some time, but I finally got the sleep study done.
They were slow to contact me about the results, but they
finally called to set up an appointment for me to come in and learn the
results.
So I went to the appointment, and the professional I talked
to informed me that I stopped breathing three times that night!
Patches jumped on me three times that night!
Yeah, that’s right. Patches jumps on me when I stop
breathing.
I did mention that he doesn’t jump on me when I sleep
propped up, and she said that made sense, and suggested I do that until all the
red tape is cut and I get a C-PAP machine.
At least Patches doesn’t wake me up as often that way.
In other news, I have been having a ton of financial issues
these past several months, mostly due to how many days I missed work due to not
getting enough sleep the night before. But it hadn’t been just that.
I missed several days because I put one or both knees out
and I couldn’t walk. I missed at least one day because my blood sugar went sky-high on me. When my neighbor came to check on me, she thought what I needed was
orange juice.
FYI, orange juice or candy is used when the blood sugar is
too low; when it is too high, avoid carbs altogether and have protein.
Also, when it is too low, you are dizzy, faint, and woozy;
when it is too high, you have dry heaves and you are sweaty, maybe also dizzy.
There is a difference. I promise giving someone carbs or sugar in this case
would only make matters worse.
Now my financial issues aren’t as easy to handle,
though things are looking up. I paid off one credit card in December
thanks to a generous gift from some friends. I paid off another bill last
month, which was a big help because it was the highest monthly payment I had.
And I am working on not missing so much work.
Of course, that is the hard part. I am still having issues
with sleep. I don’t just have sleep apnea; I also have insomnia issues.
It turns out I am on the spectrum, and insomnia is a common
problem for those of us on the spectrum. And here I just thought it was a
family problem. Dad and our brother Bryon had problems with it too.
Has anybody mentioned that Autism most likely has a genetic component?
And yes, they have.
The myth that it is caused by vaccines is bunk, but it is a fact that it is often hereditary.
By the way, I only received one vaccine as a kid, and I was displaying
what is now known as clear signs of Autism long before grade school. And I know
I have mentioned all my stims before.
Now I am wondering why I don’t write a character that is on
the spectrum. That is certainly something I do know. And I might just do it eventually,
or I might add some detail to an already existing character to make that person
on the spectrum.
I’m thinking I should make the character female to help spread
the work that isn’t a male-only problem.
Anyway, happy writing everyone!
