I think I am still shift-lagged from my 7 night shifts. Last night I went to bed at about eleven pm, and then woke up at 12.30 am, and I couldn't get back to bed. Tossed and turned until about 4.15 am when I decided that this was ridiculous - if I couldn't sleep then I might as well start the drive to Ballarat and hopefully find some rest here.
It is by the sufficient grace of God that I made it here with so little sleep. Anecdotally, I hear that people who work in healthcare are 12 times more likely to be involved in car accidents compared to other road users. That figure is not so hard to believe now.
The house was freezing and I had to wait for it to warm up before I could crawl into my cold, cold bed for another hour and a half of sleep. The alarm was an unwelcome disruption to my REM dream-stage sleep.
I pulled myself out of bed to shower, and then went for three hours' lecture followed by seven and a half hours of work. I think I ran on the twin combo of energy bars and adrenaline today.
I come home and I indulge in a little bit of emotional eating - making up for my lack of energy from a well-rested body. Ironically now I have both a brain and a gut to work now, but only enough blood for one organ at a time.
How tired am I now? I am writing this and I am micro-sleeping. I nod off and I dream vivid five second dreams and then I wake up again to type on. It is as if I am having my head dunked into the Ocean of Dreams and then pulled up for a breath of Reality every so often again and again. The reluctant narcoleptic.
I can only imagine what it must have been like for every other doctor around the world who have had to brave through 36 hours shifts every three days. I mean, seriously, how is that even safe, both for the doctor and the patient?
Anyways, I just wanted to capture this moment before I give into one of these five second dreams and pursue it to its end instead of coming up for air again. I hope I catch a good one.
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