Monday, 06/01/09

Power of Coffee

Sleep deprivation affects me dramatically. Tracy can function remarkably well with two hours of sleep when she is on call. In contrast, when I am sleep deprived I can't perform simple tasks. I got up this morning and tried to focus my attention on drinking the cold coffee I made yesterday so I could turn on my brain. It took me about 10 minutes to find a cup, mix in the cream and equal and start to drink it. In my defense I was simultaneously working on the heroic task of making toast for Asher.

When Tracy came downstairs from her shower I had successfully cajoled Asher into putting most of his clothes on (he wouldn't put his shoes on because he didn't want to stop wearing his fire boots) and I was finishing up Indy's clothes.

Tracy asked, "Have you fed Indy?"

Me, "[mumble mumble] uh... no."

Tracy walks up to the sink and holds up the empty formula container, "Did you throw it out?"

"No," I said, puzzled. I sat frowning at Indy for a few seconds. I must have fed you. A murky image of sitting at the table with her G-Tube comes to my mind. Was that today, I wondered, baffled?

After another hour of being awake I can now fairly clearly recall feeding Indy. Some mornings I feel as if I've had a stroke, as if really helpful portions of my brain are completely unavailable to me. Coffee, apparently, is capable of kicking these areas back online. Useful. Creepy, but useful.

Comments

NTHOMPSON wrote:

Bill, Very enjoyable post. I am interested in the way the lack of sleep impacts us in different ways. Your story reminded me of someone in performance art, Tehching Hsieh. He's a legend of sorts amongst contemporary performance artists, known for doing incredible, grueling artworks. ...one of which was for him to punch a time clock every hour on the hour for an entire year. He shot a photograph of himself after each instance, starting the year with a completely shaved head. (There should be a time-lapse video online of this work which compiles all the photographs in sequence. You can see his fortitude in trying to stay awake, his hair grow to hippie lengths, and the subsequent effects of sleep deprivation in his face as the video goes on)... Anyhow, your post reminded me of him.

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