After Dennis had woken me up for the third time last night, I swore at him and moved myself to the couch. I spent the next hour trying to relax, get that Del Amitri song out of my head and back to sleep. I found a few hours of good sleep. At least when I woke at 7 am, I felt fairly rested.
The first time he woke me up was to turn him. I try hard to be patient with the turning wake- ups. He is in bed quite a few hours at a stretch, gets tired and his joints get sore. He can't turn himself without help. Most times this turn is easy, and I can get back to sleep quickly. This time it was back to dreaming in minutes.
The next time he woke me up was because his arm was numb. What am I supposed to do about an arm that is asleep?
As I am relating one little night episode with you, you need to keep a few things in mind.
One, this happens almost nightly. It happens more often after a big change. Dennis had two big changes last month - the catheter and the feeding tube.
Two, Dennis struggles with pronouncing consonants, even when he is wide awake and at his optimum strength. I have learned to understand " ur ee" (turn me) and "uh in ons" ( covingtons - Dennis' word for covers), two of his most common night time requests. When he throws a new one out, I have to really focus to figure it out. By the time I had figured out, " i ar is um", I was wide awake and frustrated.
Three, I never know when he might really need my help. He has had a few falls out of bed, infections, pneumonia, and other large and small emergencies. The problem is he is not very good about differentiating between an emergency and simply wanting attention.
Four, Dennis talks in his sleep. Loudly. This morning, according to Dennis, the third time he woke me, he was dreaming and talking to me. It seems he thought I had a laptop computer in bed and was looking for a new TV for Mother. Since we actually are looking for a new TV, and have been looking on the computer, this sounds plausible. But, his eyes were wide open, he was very insistent, and I was trying hard to understand him.
I decided to forgive him. He said he will try hard not to wake me up for every single thing on his mind. Perhaps I should give him two sleeping pills tonight.
Until later,
Ann and Dennis
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