Not Much Reaches the Brain

 

In hindsight I probably shouldn’t have done this, but I was desperate to sleep. I purchased a package of Unisom gels and being so exhausted from lack of sleep that I was unable to even comprehend what I read, took one at about 6 pm Wednesday night.

Two hours later when the alarm went off to take my 8 o’clock meds I woke in a stupor and, seeing it was still light outside, mistook the clock to read 8 am - not pm as I gobbled the meds. I began to panic, thinking that I’d overslept since I had Labs to be done at 8:45 am. 

Stumbled into the bathroom banging into the door frame and sink, rushing to wash my face and brush teeth to get ready to leave - very hurriedly.  

Slowly, as the fog lifted I came to realize that it was only 8 pm Wednesday evening when I had taken the pill and not Thursday morning.  It was OK, since it was the correct pill at the correct time, but the whole episode threw me off balance. I was finally able to go back to sleep, but for some reason, I was awake again at midnight as on many previous nights and could’t go back to sleep.

Well, at least I gave it a shot.  Not sure sleep aids are the answer to my problem, whatever that may be.  I do know that I am more tired and stressed with each passing day. At least the Unisom didn’t leave me in a zombie state as some folks report. I think I’ll stick with Benadryl tabs just before bedtime and see what happens. 

Lab results showed the CBC to be way down, as well as other important levels. Absolute Neutrophil count was back in the danger zone. The consensus is that it’s Chemo causing this problem. Heaven knows, I don’t want to have to go back to wearing the insolation mask again.

The odd thing is that even with the numbers so dangerously low, I didn’t have the usual symptoms and everyone noticed that I had good colour, no pallor. This tends to confuse everyone, especially me.

I was hoping to enjoy a burger lunch at a fave joint today, but instead I spent 7 hours at the center  receiving 2 units of blood to bring those numbers back to a safe level.  That should get me through the weekend and into next week.  

I left the Center in a downpour and was soaked to the bone by the time I got to the car. Driving home in the middle of that heavy rainstorm this afternoon I realized that the traffic lights on the highway were out (not blinking, just out) and all stores and electrical signage was dark, too. Not a good sign.

There were no troopers directing traffic - which was quite heavy for a Friday afternoon in May - so it was every car for itself. The power was out for about 4 miles and it was slow going. I noticed a couple of fender-benders (some folks just never learn) along the way.

I chose the path of least resistance by coming back into town via the backroads, the ones without traffic signals, to find that the city of Rehoboth still had electric power and was not affected.

I hung my wet clothes in the bathtub and turned on the Emergency Weather Radio when I got in. We are under a flash flood warning situation this evening until 7 pm, and I am happy to be home and dry

It’s hard to believe that the Memorial Day Weekend (the formal beginning of the summer season here) is only a week away. Time is flying by and I’m missing out on much of life right now.

The Amazon Gift Certificate arrived. Makes a nice ending to a damp, dreary day, to say the least.

And so it goes.

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