One of the most frustrating things about having ALS is the constant tiredness and the inability to recover in any sort of timely manner from any substantial exertion. Even small exertions can leave me helpless for a half hour or even longer.
On Saturday night I stayed up late. I got into binging on a Netflix show. Home care was all mess up because of the snowy roads, so I ended up getting evening care at around 11:00 PM. I decided to stay up, have a few adult beverages and watch their newest offering, Altered Carbon. It was an interesting show, and I got quickly hooked into it. So I stayed up, sufficiently late that I am embarrassed to say how late. Let's just say that when I fell asleep in my chair, I knew it was time to go to bed.
Getting into bed was no issue. I had my sling behind me on my wheelchair and was already wearing my nighttime urine bag. So I just slung in. I slept, sort of, until home care arrived at 11:30 AM, once again delayed by snow. Then I got up, facing the music. If you can't do the time, don't do the crime.
Sunday was a semi-lazy day. I did a bit of laundry, but I didn't fold it, except for some towels. I baked some bacon, getting it ready to put into single slices for the freezer. And I napped. When my HCA came early, at 8:30 PM, I said "yes, put me to bed now." I slept until 11:00 AM this morning.
Yet even with all that rest, I have spent all of today napping, unable to get past my need for sleep recovery, unable to push the machine that was once my body past torpidity. It's taken me the whole day just to get to my laptop, to do my daily mail and blog checks. Even now I am ready for an early bedtime tonight, looking forward to it, in fact. So, for someone who will easily get 12 hours of sleep for recovery, why is it that it takes me at least 2 days or more to recover from 6 hours of lost sleep?
I used to do the late nights with ease, on a regular basis. Now I am like a small child, unable to get by without lots of sleep and a nap or two each day. And even the smallest task requires that I stop and rest afterwards. Another part of living with ALS. Living. Humph!
"Recovery Sleep" I think you've coined a new term for chronically and terminally ill folks all around. We certainly understand if you play, you pay. We have a new show called The Resident that's very intersting. Glad you enjoyed your shows!
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