Things have been going along pretty good which is why you haven’t heard from me lately.
I’ve gone to the acupuncturist a total of 3 times now and have my next appointment on Friday. I’m not sure how much longer I will be able to go…it’s expensive, insurance doesn’t pay and it’s a very long drive taking up almost an entire day for one appointment. Ken has only been twice because his work schedule doesn’t coordinate well and he’s already dreading the drive and amount of time it takes. He’s oblivious to the financial aspects! I do think it is beneficial to both of us and would like to continue. I just wish it didn’t cost so basting much and wish it were closer to home.
I had about 6 weeks of getting down good sleep habits for the Yaa Halla belly dance convention. My July schedule had me working late but getting to sleep in late as well. I’d established a pattern of going to bed around 2am, getting up around 10. I was pretty solidily entrenched in this pattern while on call the first part of August as well. Unfortunately, one thing about being on call is no one notices what type of schedule a person normally keeps. My trip that was due to arrive in around 10pm Sunday night turned into an all-nighter because of mechanical issues (and highly stressful). That really wasn’t too bad since I’d been staying up till 2 or 3 on my previous trips. The problems came when I got home Monday morning. I tried sleeping but the neighbors were having their trees trimmed with chain-saws all morning/afternoon. When it was time for normal people to go to bed, I couldn’t. Basically, I fell asleep at 3 and was called out at 5. It was supposed to be a fairly easy 10 hour shift but, due to mechanical problems again, it was over 12 hours and very stressful. Now I was completely exhausted!
If you remember from years past, Yaa Halla is a big event at which I am basically the technical director, I sell my make-up, I take dance classes by day and perform in the evening shows by night. I’ve cut back on some of my duties and don’t “run around” as much as I have in the past but it still is a marathon. In addition to all that, it is quite a long drive from home so I stay with friends and in hotels. That means I have to pack for 4 day…workout clothes, costumes and accessories, evening clothes, overnight clothes, and since I don’t get breaks, I pack 4 days of food as well.
So, here it is 10pm on Tuesday night, I’m exhausted and I have all this packing to do plus go to the store. I need to leave by 3:30 Wednesday for the event.
Wednesday night is way more stressful than usual with all the set-up but we get everything accomplished. Now, lack of sleep, stress and heat don’t make a good mixture for someone with MS…
My left foot had begun to “heat up” on Tuesday and the tingling was creeping up my calf. Still there on Wednesday and my legs were starting to feel pretty weak. Thursday wasn’t so good. I was very weak in the morning for the first few hours. I took it easy and stayed behind my make-up table, not participating in any of the classes. Fortunately, I didn’t have to dance Thursday night. When the shows were over and I went to my friend’s house, I could barely walk up the stairs to get to bed! I had to pull myself with my arms. I did however, sleep pretty good and I had slept good the previous night as well. Just not a full 8 hours. I was feeling better on Friday.
I continued to conserve my energy as much as possible during the days and slept as much as possible after the shows. As the week progressed, the stress lessened as one performance after the other came off without any major mistakes or problems. I danced some of the class on Saturday afternoon. It was fast and furious and very demanding so I took about 1/2 of the class and then sat down. Same thing with Sunday morning’s class. I was pretty pleased with how well the strength in my legs came back. I just got a little dizzy and my foot still burned. I pulled off my solo Sunday night with just a few balance issues that I don’t think anyone noticed.
After the shows are over, I take part in closing everything down and packing everything up. We were kind of at a lull in the loading process around midnight so Ken and I went to the restaurant where everyone else was for a cold drink break. About 1 it was time to begin unloading, so we took off to meet the trucks. I was pleasantly surprised at how much strength and stamina I seemed to still have. We got home about 3am Monday morning and the event is over!
Needless to say, I didn’t do much on Monday! I had some errands to run and we had dinner with friends but in addition to sleeping in, a nap was also in order. Tuesday, I slept in and got started on cleaning up some of the mess created by the event. Today, Wednesday, I’ve been pretty lazy and slept in and napped and haven’t really gotten much, if anything, accomplished.
I’m off to class now. Instead of dancing, we’re having a meeting. I don’t go back on call until Saturday and I should be all caught up by then. Let’s just hope I don’t have any o’dark hundred sign-ins!
