Our Fibromyalgia Blog Book

So Much for a "Nap" - The Other Side of the Story

         If you've read Kenzie 's blog entry from today, written about Wednesday evening, keep reading. If not, go there now "Each Day Already is a Challenge" , read her entry, then pick up here.
         I'd been feeling ready to "shut down" since getting home from work last night about 5:30. While I was watching the NBC Nightly News and checking my email, Kenzie came in the bedroom and slipped under the covers. I knew where this was going. Thing was, I was about ready to join her. Somewhere just before 7:00, we were both snoozin'.
         About an hour later, give or take a few minutes, my beeper goes off. I'm responsible for a small group of programs that runs at the end of every month, among other times, and this was the end of February. A bit miffed at losing my chance for a nice long nap, I got up, stopped the beeper after reading the message, deleted the message so it wouldn't keep beeping a reminder, and turned to Kenzie. Somewhat quietly so I didn't startle her, I said, "Watch your eyes, honey," as I waited a couple seconds then turned on the light. She didn't budge, or make a sound. I smiled at that. I kinda figured that one.
         I hooked up my office-owned laptop, connected to the system, and found the reason for the problem. I knew what to do, but I did NOT know what, if anything, special needed to be done before I could have them rerun this thing after I fixed the situation. The instructions for restarting the monthly cycle were at work. I had no copy here (until tonight - ).
         I put the laptop away and got dressed. I wrote Kenzie a short love note, telling her where I was, and why, in case she woke up while I was gone. I taped it to the back of the bedroom door where she couldn't miss it if she got up, closed the door and headed to work.
         Once there, I found that I didn't have to do anything unusual before having them run it again. I fixed the problem, had them run it, and I waited till it finished. While waiting, I ate a few cherry tomatoes I'd gotten from the cafeteria at lunch time and hadn't eaten earlier. That took the edge of the appetite without touching junk food and satisfied the diabetes rule about eating roughly every 4 hours while awake. That was my supper. By now it was about 11:20 PM. I turned off my desktop and headed home.
         I set the alarm clock, sipped a bit of water, and slid into bed. A few minutes later, I hear, "Whatcha been doin'?" I smiled. Inside, too. I understood what she asked, but the voice characteristics I heard in that question told me she was all but talking in her sleep.
         "I just got home from work," I said softly.
         "Oh, that stinks," she said, turning to face me.
         "Tell me about it," I said as I leaned over and kissed her. I knew I hadn't awakened her, because she hadn't moved a muscle when I entered the room, or anytime after. But, she was awake.
         "Did you get it fixed?"
         "Yes, for the moment. I have to put something permanent in place tomorrow so it doesn't happen again."
         She slowly slipped out of the bed, making sure her knee and ankle were going to support her. "Well, now that I've had that 'nap', I'm awake," she said as she headed for the door. "I'll close this so the cats don't disturb you, sweetie."
         "OK, thanks. I'll either see you when you come back to bed, or when I get up in the morning," I said, smiling.
         "I love you," she said as she closed the door. I looked at the clock. It was now 12:10 AM Thursday morning.

         When my alarm went off at 5:50, I got up and started with my blood pressure check and sugar level, as always. When I headed for the kitchen about 15 minutes later, she was at her PC as always. "Do you remember talking to me last night when I got home?" I asked. She smiled, and we both knew the answer. We talked about this later on, enjoying it with a smile. And part of that humor was, and is, the idea that with Fibro, and the chronic fatigue that's part of it, this will not be the last time something like this happens.
         The clincher for this time? It's now Thursday evening, and Kenzie's been asleep since about 7:00 or so. Before she fell asleep, I asked her if she was going to crash again. She said in her own way that it was definitely possible, commented that she was wondering about the possibility of getting her timing all screwed up with this going on, then proceeded to go right to sleep. End of conversation. It's now 10:00, and she's still asleep. I'm going to get my sugar level, heat a leftover for supper (that's right, I haven't eaten yet tonight, either) , then get ready for bed. My guess is that shortly after I'm IN bed, she'll be getting up again. And our sense of humor will take over just like it did last night and today when we talked about it. This series of events should be a good example to those of you who don't have Firbromyalgia of what it has the potential to do to your scheduling, and your sense of timing, for starters. It's more than just random aches and pains, though those can really force changes as well. When the fatigue truly kicks in, it can try to change many other things in your life. The challenge at those times, which, thank the Lord we've quickly found a way to deal with, is to keep those topsy-turvy moments, like this last 24 hours, from changing, in any negative way, your important relationships. Like with each other. Check in next time and we'll see how this one ultimately develops.