Would you like to be in my shoes? Close your eyes and count from one to five.
Now gently open your eyes. Your back hurts, and the pain wakes you up. It feels like your blood sugar is low. You've got to pee. You check the blood sugar on your phone. It's dipping, but it's fine for now.
You know you have to force sleep until sunrise, to keep the commotion at a minimum. Then finally, after you have planned the day in your head, and written down your notes for the day, you are ready for it... bring it on!
Medications, breakfast, then walk, then do some house chores (cleaning house, doing dishes, washing clothes). Get the girls ready for school, make their meal, help your wife and in-laws get the girls ready and drop them at school on time.
Phew! Then some brain community socializing, or general socializing and walking to ensure both body and brain are sufficiently tired, in turn needing and begging for a rest.
Time for a nap. So I get myself a good lunch and plan to sleep for at least two hours to ensure the batteries are recharged for the second leg of the day.
I pick the girls up from school, play with them, feed them, do some more walking, eat my meds and it's time to go to sleep!
The fantastic part of this super busy life is living it with partial smell loss, partial taste loss, balance issues, hearing loss, memory loss, type 2 diabetes, seizures and nerve pain prevention medication on a timely basis every day. I also have a controlled diet and regular exercise, all to ensure that I get to live one more day!
The best part about lost memory is that I get to watch my favorite TV series or movies again and again. I also love asking people who know me, how they know me!
Thanks to my psych, I was able to crack the 8-16 sleep-wake code. I go for the comfortable solution of 8-7-2-7.
Smiley face... because at the end of the day, it's a small price to pay to get to live with my family and friends!
Prateek Mohanty
October 202