Sleepless In Salem

Sleepless in Salem :)
September 19th - Day 16
I just spent my 3rd night in a "chair bed" in Robert's room. Nights in the hospital with a man whose sleep pattern is completely out of whack is quite interesting! A friend helped me understand that being on a ventilator heavily medicated and/or in ICU totally disrupts the day / night cycle. The way I can grasp it is by picturing the newborn having been in the womb - suddenly they are outside the womb and they don't have a clue whether it's night or day! That's Robert! Not only has he woken up at 12:30 in the morning, sat up and declared he was done sleeping, he also seems to be what I'm calling "sleep abundunt"...like after being "asleep" for so many days, he just seems to not need very much sleep. The problem is that I was not on a ventilator...and after 15 days of sticking with this man, I am the opposite - sleep deprived! Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending how you view it, last night I was so sleepy I was able to sleep deeper than I have in days. But every 90 minutes or so, Robert would be calling me for one thing or another. At 2:00 am it was to go to the bathroom. After getting back in bed, all covered up, ready to drift off, Robert starts chatting like it is the middle of the day. We talked for about an hour when he said, can we go for a walk? So, 3:15 am, here we go, me with my eyes half open, he with his walker, around the hall for a long loop. At 5:45 am he is calling again. As I open one eye I realize he is sitting on the edge of the bed, grinning, asking me to roll his table closer because “breakfast will be coming”! It’s hard to get impatient with him because of his genuine excitement over eating real food.
Now he’s sleeping…and just as when we had a newborn, I’m wondering if I should wake him and “keep him awake all day so he will sleep tonight” – did that ever really work?!?
…for better or for worse, in sickness and in health…

~Jeanette