Have You Hugged Your Narcoleptic Today?

For those of you who are wondering, yes-I did fall asleep during my root canal this morning.  I even woke myself up snoring a time or two, you know those one time deep cleansing breath sort of deals where you do it once and go back to not snoring.  I really had to laugh though- I was talking with the hygienist and said it was nice to get a nap in.  She commented that she felt so bad for me because she thought I'd not been able to sleep all weekend due to the pain in the tooth.  I laughed and told her I'd pretty much slept all day Sunday, which surprised her.  It was at that point that I reminded her of my narcolepsy.  Yep, that would do it, she said.  I'm sure it didn't help that I've skipped both my Xyrem and my Nuvigil for the last few days (again, didn't want to mix them with Vicoden).  The antibiotics they gave me continue to make me sick to my stomach, or maybe its the $2500 dental bill that did it-the thought of it is making me nauseous at this very moment.

It was near 11:00 am by the time I finally got home and I knew right away that my master plan of cleaning out another room was just not going to happen.  I really tried though.  I cleaned and organized the upstairs guest room enough to allow most of the stuff from the downstairs guest room to be moved up there.  By the time that was done the anesthetic shots the dentist gave me were wearing off and the pain was intense.  According to my dentist, I am one of the 7% of the population that does not respond to the regular pain block shots they give you before doing something like a root canal.  I was still feeling what he was doing after two numbing shots so he gave me some sort of shot that they normally don't give patients according to the hygienist.  I'm not sure what it was exactly, but when he gave it to me I swear he was standing on the damn needle.  I've never felt so much pressure-I felt like he was trying to push something through my jaw and out the bottom.  After all was said and done, they showed me exactly what he had used.  It was this science fiction looking needle gun thing with about a two inch needle on the end.  Incredulous, I asked if they'd put the whole needle in my face and she said they had.  The extreme pressure I felt was because the needle had to be inserted down into the ligament.  She also showed me a used needle that had actually been bent under the force of my dentist pushing on it.  It was interesting to say the least.  I was told that when it wore off I'd feel like I'd been hit in the face with a baseball bat, and it might be that way for a couple of weeks.  She wasn't kidding.  I popped a pain killer and not too much more got done after that.

Thankfully I have fantastically awesome kids.  The three of us were chatting a bit as I was making dinner and RJ offered my part of his snack.  When I told him why I wouldn't be able to eat anything solid just yet, DJ insisted on spoon feeding me a Jello pudding cup while I cooked up the chicken for my chicken cacciatori.  What a sweet kid.  On a side note, I've been reading this book, You Can't Make Me, but I Can Be Persuaded, and its really given me some awesome insights and strategies for understanding and dealing with my strong willed twins.  DJ came home today and jumped right in doing things I needed done as I cooked dinner. RJ wasn't as eager (he's my couch potato kid) but he happily did the things I asked him too.  It makes my job as a mom so much easier when the boys cooperate, and my life as a narcoleptic mom a hundred times easier when I can calmly delegate things on my to do list to them.  It also helps tremendously that The Hubby knows I have limitations and never ever makes me feel guilty about it.  Our days are usually filled with texts to each other, and today he kept telling me to just sit back and rest.  Since he started his own business last year he's done a ton to make my life easier and less stressful.  He takes the kids to school and picks them up in the afternoon.  He also makes dinner and bathes the boys-all things I had done in the past due to his crazy long days.  Now all that stress is off my shoulders, and he never complains about it either.  All you reading this who are family members of someone with narcolepsy, listen up.  The actions and attitudes of family members can play a huge part in what sort of experience your narcoleptic loved one has with it.  If you make them feel like a burden, or guilt trip them, of accuse them of being lazy you're heaping stress on them that only makes symptoms worse-trust me, I know.  On the other hand, if you want to be awesome then do what you can to take some of the burden off.  I'm not saying take on everything and run yourself into the ground.  It can be as simple as saying, why don't you go rest for an hour.  Or giving your narco a hug and letting them know how much you love them, and that they are a very important part of your life.  One big insecurity we have as narcoleptics is feeling guilt for all the stuff we're too tired to take care of. Guilt for things we have to miss or cancel out on because we're too worn out-especially sucky if its something for your kids.  I guarantee there's not a narcoleptic person out there who enjoys being narcoleptic.  Many times people who have a narcoleptic loved one simply don't have any idea how to process everything-The Hubby went through that big time.  There are resources. Google it.  Ask questions.  Go with to doc appointments.  Ask your narco about it.  Don't ignore it because it isn't going away.

Okay, I didn't mean to go off on that tangent tonight, but its all true, valid and relevant.  There are also a gaggle of us narco bloggers out in cyberspace who are more than happy to try to answer question or point people in the right direction.  I have a growing list of some other bloggers along the right side of this page.  Alrighty then.  Time to check on the kids and try to go back to bed.  *YAWN*  Nighty night!