Extremely busy week at work, but worse this week-spending week of vacation time taking another Board exam...

where I've been....

It turns out, I'm far more likely to write for 30 seconds on Facebook and post pics than actually Blog. But is will use this when less pressed for time. Stay tuned.

more sleep stuff

bizarre coincidence, have a second patient who has chronic sleepiness and has a vagal nerve stimulator implant, this time for seizure control. Interested to see on sleep test whether the VNS is disturbing his sleep every few seconds when it goes off, like my other patient. Surely someone else has noticed this. Test pending.

A few days off...

I had all day off today. It is impossible to get everything done that needs doing. Drove son to and from school 13 miles away; shopped for groceries and miscellaneoua; did laundry, cleaned house; made dinner and put 18 home-made burritos in freezer; baked cookies for son, cleaned kitchen; wrote letters and worked out for one hour; fixed ripe peaches for late pm dessert for husband and guest. Still have a list a mile long. If I worked at home all the time, I'd never finish. There is always more to do. Work is nice---a set of tasks that gets done and then the next set appears. On the plus side, I did actually do a lot. I have new books to read from stop at bookstore too. Old Georgette Heyer book , one I've never read before, waiting for me. Hooray!

Insomnia

Today in my clinic i saw at least 5 people (5/20) with complaints of insomnia. Every one of them is coping with fatigue by consuming large amounts of caffeine. It has about a TEN HOUR HALF LIFE, people. Half is still there 10 hours after you drink it, and half of that 10 hours later. A few cups and you are caffeinated 24/7. And a "cup" is 6-8 ounces, not 16-20. Start there. Then get rid of that 20 watt electric alarm clock you check hourly, and the tv you click on and off all night long. Your grandmother could have told you how to sleep better.
We've lost track of natural light and the rhythms that normally govern our sleep in all the electronic environment that surrounds us.

well, this is a surprise...

I just wanted to sign in to post on my sister's blog--and wound up creating my own. We'll see if I actually do this. It's 11:40pm and it snowed here, while all the leaves are still green on the trees. It was the earliest we've had over an inch of snow in 32 years here in Saint Paul.