How The Olympic Games Are Saving My Sanity

I stayed in bed for over six hours last night, and slept most of that time!

That's a first in what seems like a very long time.

As I was working in my first week of recovery to get my digestive system functioning, I slept well for a few nights as I recovered from those nights in the hospital.  Then sleep began to desert me, to the point that I could only stay asleep for an hour at a time.  To change position I had to have help repositioning pillows that had me wedged in on either my right or left side.  I had to roll over without twisting my spine.  All of this was laborious.  And then I would lay there awake until I couldn't stand it anymore.  I would get up and go downstairs. So some nights by 3:00 I was in my recliner or on the downstairs couch, sleep still alluding me.  

Did you know the Olympics are on somewhere on the NBC spectrum or Canadian CBUT all night long, and all day too?  Thank God.  I turned them on to whatever sport was happening, much of it live action.  Josy Fuzzbutt, very confused as to why I was getting up in the middle of the night, would sit on me and purr.  I appreciated her comforting company.

By early this week I called my primary care doctor for help.  I have no experience with sleep aids, choosing to just work through previous bouts in insomnia.  But this was getting serious.  Even napping during the day was difficult.  And because I was not on pain meds, it was hard to be really comfortable in any position.  My doctor prescribed Trazodone, an antidepressant used as a sleep aid.  I had to chuckle when I read the warning on the label, " May cause drowsiness". I hope so!

It took three days to start working as a sleeping aid, but of course the blurry vision started right away.  It's a good thing I have a Paperwhite Kindle, on which I can adjust the light and read in the dark, and adjust the font size to large.  That too helped keep me sane.  I just finished reading Sycamore Row by John Grisham and I'm starting Inferno by Dan Drown.

Right now I'm typing on my lap top and watching curling.  I have already watched most of what will be shown on  prime time tonight so I can switch over to Downton Abby.  We went for a walk this  morning, about 1.3 miles, and that's about as far as I can manage for now.  I am at the point where I can be detrimental to my recovery by doing too much, reaching too far, bending or twisting a bit too  much.

Yes, recovery is a bitch.  But then I am not a very patient person when it comes to being restricted.  And restricted I must be.  With rods and screws in my spine, and bone grafting just getting started, I have no option but to be much more sedentary than I want to be.

Thank  goodness for the Olympics!