Dr.’s Appointments, Waiting for the shoe to fall, Learning about sleep

I had a doctor’s appointment today to get an evaluation of a pain I have had in my left shoulder. It has been there for months but only recently has made it difficult for me to put on a shirt or jacket without quite a bit of pain.


I was worried that I t might be a rotator cuff problem though I could not think of a circumstance or injury that might have caused it. I was relieved that my doctor’s evaluation is that is only bursitis. (That’s old people talk for joint pain.) That does not lessen the pain but it greatly simplifies the treatment. Attention to diet and addition of a couple well-chosen herbs will fully correct the problem. I am relieved. I must admit to a little disappointment, though. Shoulder surgery would have put me off work for several weeks. No such luck.

On another front there is not so much relief. I am anxiously waiting for the other shoe to fall. With the sale of the house and the resulting loss to the bank, I feel certain there is coming a reckoning. But I have made several calls trying to start the settlement process only to be assured that things are being sorted out. I do make sure each call is reported so there is no assumption that I have dodged my responsibilities, but I am still a little anxious about the delay.

I should be celebrating the long delay and I am thankful that I have had some time to rearrange my finances, but each month brings new insight that there is not as much money to work with as I had originally imagined there would be. Optimism and math have met in my budget and math has thoroughly trumped my hopes of a quick financial recovery.

In my courses of study I am now reading about sleep. It has been quite insightful. I am immediately drawn to think about my daughter and son-in-law as I learn about sleep deprivation and the consequences of building up a large “sleep debt”. Though I have read about it in the past, the book I am now reading is very in-depth.

My daughter is a pregnant mother of two and my son-in-law is working a long stretch of nights on patrol. My granddaughter (two plus) and grandson (one plus) are very well rested; their parents not so much. It sometimes seems an impossible situation for them and I am not sure how to help from a distance, but I am sure there is a solution. We’ll just have to be clever enough to find it.

The clear message is that for those of you young people out there, if you are sleepy during the day – dosing during classes or meetings, feeling sleepy every time you sit still – you are sleep deprived. Almost all of us need at least eight hours of sleep per night. Less than that will require an hour-for-hour payback at some point.

My advice (maybe I will even follow it), turn off the television and go to bed at a decent hour. Years ago I asked a ninety-two year old man what was the secret of his sharp mental focus. He told me it was getting enough sleep. When I asked how he made sure he got enough sleep, he said, “I don’t go to be bailing hay.”

What he was saying was that whatever was left unfinished would wait until tomorrow. Night time was for sleeping rather than watching television. Daytime was for working. For me right now it means that the bank will contact me when they are ready. Until then I need to be a good steward of what I have been given, including my time.