Driving all the time

This past week and next few days a very busy and exhausting.

Let's start with last Saturday.

Time to drive 5.5 hrs to my field site. Albeit I love the field and this site is one of my absolute favourite places, the drive is long, and as the only driver it feels longer. It was a bit of  slow start as we had to make a few stops along the way to pick up various things, but we got there in the end. The end was around 9 pm to a cabin in the forest. Strangely I wasn't very cold. We eventually got the car unpacked, the camp unlocked, and the gas fridge started. We had dinner in the town we bought groceries in so at least we had eaten. I had a fair bit of trouble getting to sleep that night though. Which is pretty strange for me when I am at this particular field site. I didn't get to bed until close to midnight, but I remember looking at the time and it was like 3am before I had gone to sleep. I guess there was a lot on my mind. 

- I had a volunteer I barely knew, who is also new to the country, but thankfully has field experience elsewhere in the world. 

- This was the first field trip I was leading in over 3 years. 

- There had just been a death in the family and I was debating whether or not I could make it to the funeral which is at least another 5 hours from my home, and also 5 hours from the field site, not that I could drive straight from the field in a uni vehicle and with my volunteer. 

- I also had a bunch of unhelpful emotional personal life things going through my head that were unrelated and very unhelpful too

Sunday, as usual the first day in the field is always a slow start, but we got done what we needed. However, then it started to rain. We were coming back on a tricky road and the vehicle literally slide sideways like a crab. There was a bit of a drop off the edge too, but thankfully there was a log that helped keep us up. The car wasn't rocking or anything, but we waited out in the rain for help rather than in the car to be safe. The nearest town is between 60-90 mins away and with the rain the guy we called would have to drive a bit slower, so we were out in the rain for almost 2 hours. The guy that came was really good and knew what he was doing and it all went well. Still had a bit of trouble going to sleep but definitely not as bad. I still had a lot of the same stuff on my mind, but I did some 'journaling' too.

Monday, we went out and located my species and replicates to collect later. However, we decided to call the trip early due to the rain. One of the reasons why I scheduled the trip in August was because Winter is the dry season, and I wanted to get hydraulic threshold measurements. Doing these measurements in the rain means my plants are under no water stress and it would be fairly pointless to measure. I brought a bottle of wine up, so we drank that , since it was our last night there. The wine definitely helped me get to sleep. Still did some journaling to try and keep the thoughts at bay. 

Tuesday, we packed up the camp, we collected my samples, so they would be as fresh as possible and we headed off. We made pretty good time, and got back to the uni by 5pm. I was the only driver as my volunteer hasn't got an Australian license yet, so I was pretty happy that I made it back in good time. I put my samples in the cool room and then my partner picked me up and we had yummy Indian food. It was nice to go out to dinner with them and spend time with them, with me being away for a few days and prior to that being sick, we haven't spent much time together lately.

Wednesday, I had a a bit of a sleep in and got to uni by midday. Then worked in the lab setting up my branch samples until about 8pm. If the instruments worked well I would have been able to leave earlier, but I had to restart and replace things a couple of times. By now it had been decided that I was driving my mother and I to where our family funeral was on Thursday, so once I got home I had to unpack from my field trip and pack for a funeral.

Thursday, was another day of driving for me, as Mum can't drive much. But we got up here in decent time still. In time to go to the local shops and grab some food. I used remote desktop to check how my measurements back at the lab were going. I eventually got connected with the motel wifi, but my measurements were going strange. I have taken measurements on this species from my other sites before so I was a bit worried and confused last night. I'm wondering if someone has turned up the air conditioning, and it is too hot in the lab for my species, so their drying out is accelerated. When I got into the lab on Wednesday it was 28 degrees Celsius, which is way to hot for not only my plants, but me too. So i put it back down to 22 deg C, so I could work. I sent an email at midnight to a post doc about my concerns.

Friday, is today. The funeral was today. I've definitely used a whole lot of spoons socialising though. My branches are at least generally consistent with the readings for the night before. So I'm not really thinking about it much for now.

Saturday, tomorrow, I will already be heading back home. This time by myself. 

Sunday, I have a 4 hour job.

Monday, it's back to the uni office again, right? Or the lab, likely. 

Okay, so this isn't a very deep post, but I kind of feel it is important to me just to record the exhausting things I am going through. Driving at least 6 hours 3 times within 5 days, a field trip that didn't go as planned, a death in the family, and still trying to stay mentally sane and do work on my PhD, it quite a lot to go through. I need to acknowledge that. I just wish other people understood how much I go through at times and that's why I may not be as "productive" or "social" or "energetic" as the majority of my colleagues. 

On the plus side of the past week, I've been relatively migraine symptom free :)

How I came to see the spoons in my life

Spoon theory is often used by people with chronic illness, whether it be physical or mental. These people are known to be referred to as 'spoonies'. 

I've known about spoon theory since the beginning of covid, however, I at the time I was not able to apply it to my life.  After this past week I totally understand the concept of spoon theory and can 100% apply it to my life right now.

It all started last week. Monday I had a bad migraine in the field and had to stay in the car while the others did work. I was NOT able to function at all! Luckily, I took some Rizatriptan with me and I was able to get back to work the next day. I was really looking forward to the next days we were visiting a National Park I had not yet been to, we were meeting up with some botanists, and I just enjoy being in the field.

I managed to hold myself physically together with only mild headache and related symptoms for the rest of the field trip, however, emotionally I soon reached my limit.

Tuesday night I got the message that one of my cats had escaped and not come home. I had a lot of trouble sleeping that night. I was waking up almost every hour and having to check my phone to see if he had returned home. For Wednesday's fieldwork I was wrecked. With a lack of quality sleep, in addition to my post migraine symptoms, on top of that I was barely holding it together emotionally. Even with my lack of focus I managed to work with the team to get what we needed done by lunch time. After lunch I went into the local university to pack up my lab set up.

On the way to the university, a couple of stops to breathe, and a lot of music helped me to get there. Once I was there I was able to mostly focus on packing up my gear and downloading some data. As soon as I got into the car to leave all the worry and anxiety about my cat was back. I rang my mum and my partner while I had reception to find out what was happening and it was just nice to talk rather than messaging all the time. After those phone calls I sat in the car crying and having a mini breakdown. Once I was done I treated myself with an ice-cream, and went back to the accommodation with my field team. 

Once back in the company of humans, I automatically went back into full mask mode where I appeared to be functional and not showing that I was on the edge. Thankfully, I was messaged by my home crew (mum and my partner) that they found the cat up in a tall tree. They couldn't get him to come down but I could physically feel the relief run through me. I had no more pains in my chest and no more nausea. I got to sleep a little easier that night, even though the cat was still not home safe, as at least I knew he was alive and in the area. I still woke up a couple of times after I got to sleep, and thankfully around 3 am I woke up to a "he's home" message. Afterwards, I did not wake up until the morning. 

By now it was Thursday and time to head back to Sydney, which was 8 - 10 hours drive away. Good thing I got some sleep the previous night! 

Unfortunately, it was just the eye of the storm for my emotional ordeal that week. After a few hours of the journey I get a call from mum about booking in my eldest cat in to see the vet as he was very wobbly on his feet. I try not to make too much of it for the next couple of hours, but I make sure I am not driving when the appointment was so I could hopefully speak to the vet. This particular vet and I communicate quite well. The storm starts again when the vet mentions that it may be the beginning of the end in regards to my precious eldest cat. Pretty much straight after I got off the phone, it was my turn to drive for the next 3 hours. This was probably a good thing as it gave me something to focus on rather than my cat's health. The drive went well, and we parted ways once we got to where I had parked my car. I then headed home for the final part of my journey. 

I get home. I carry a couple of things into the house, leaving my door open and the car light on, thinking I would continue to unpack the car. I went down to see my baby boy and he was not well. He was very wobbly, walking strange, and not interested in the food he was given. I could not leave his side, not even to get my bags in from the car. My partner arrived soon after, and he and my mother unpacked the car, and set up a floor bed in mum's room where my cat sleeps (I can't have him in my bedroom as he does not get on with the other cats, and it is the coldest room in the house). During this time of them helping me with basic things I broke, I completely broke. I could not do this anymore, I was exhausted. I got some sleep that night, but woke regularly to check on my cat. 

The next day my cat was showing signs of improvement. I had increased his medication, I was hand feeding him, and I was keeping him company (which he loves). He was still a bit wobbly but much better than the night before, where he looked like he had almost given up. I was able to separate myself from him for a bit over an hour to get to my remedial massage appointment, at which I was told my body is bad again. I think I then got home and took a nap with him. 

Again, that is not all, it's only Friday still. Day three. So that evening we get a knock on our door, our neighbour that I've known for about 25 years had passed. Not too surprising, he was in his 70's with chronic health problems, but still it was a bit of a shock. As he lived alone his pet bird is now at our house, although we don't really have the room for it, and did I mention the cats? A bunch of other things that were his are also at house that sister gave us, some consumables like food and toilet paper, also some blankets and towels that we are looking at donating to an animal shelter or vets. Back to Friday night, we spent a couple of hours helping his sister organise some things and then again on Saturday. 

Thankfully my cat was still improving so I could do some of the things I had planned and needed to do at university. Late Sataurday afternoon I finally had the chance to head out to the university to attend my live plant samples and set them up in the lab. Fortunately, my partner offered to drive me out to uni and keep me company while I worked. So from about 5.30 pm to 9 pm I worked. I did not get to do everything I needed to but I did what I could. 

Sunday I was dead, I needed to sleep. My cat was improving still which was great, but I still decided to sleep on mums floor to be with him. Mum's partner brought over a small air mattress for me to use, and that has very much helped with the comfort. I think it was around today that the spoon theory clicked with my situation. I had no spoons to deal with anything.

Monday I had prebooked a counselling appointment, just my regular meet up that helps me to function with my crazy life. However, that morning I got a message saying it needed to be rescheduled. Well, there goes that outlet, although I did get to stay in bed with my cat a bit longer that morning. I got to uni around 12.30 pm and did some more lab work. I left around 4.30 pm to get to a reptile society committee meeting that was thankfully in my local area. I had a pub dinner and slept on mums floor again.

Tuesday and Wednesday I got to uni at 2 pm. Both days just in time for a meeting. Then I went back to the lab again. Tuesday was my brothers birthday so we got some take out to have at home. I also messaged my brothers psychologist asking if he had some time for me this week, but unfortunately not. Wednesday, the reptile society was having a book launch so I went to that and helped out a little. Wednesday I survived of a mocha and a few snacks all day. I did not eat anything else when I finally got home, I just went to sleep on mums floor.

We are finally at Thursday, today. I got to uni around 2.30 pm, sat in my car for about an hour eating some lunch I brought from home and playing on my phone. Then I went back to the lab and finished doing some more of my work. I got home around 8 pm, heated up a frozen mac and cheese, and decided it was time to use this outlet to get out some what's been going on with me. 

My next counselling appointment is hopefully next Monday. I have also booked in with my brothers psychologist for the week after. He has seen my whole family before, and the familiarity with our situation I feel is a good reason for me to update him a little bit with what's going on. I have a lot going on that I have mentioned here, but with my life there is always more and I need to talk through it.

I have been tracking my spoons for the past few days with an app. I have come to realise it uses a spoon just for me to get up in the morning, another to get dressed and at least 2 more just to drive out to the university. There are only 12 spoons in a day and one third is used up before I even start working on my PhD. Tracking my spoons has helped me to realised how fragile I actually am right now and is helping me to acknowledge how hard it is for me to do basic things like, get dressed in the morning.

What a week

Last week was all over the place. I did not take sick leave as I only get 10 days per year. I stayed home all week though, and barely did any work. Here's how the following days played out.

Monday

I woke up at 4.30 am and decided to feed my cat. She ate her food like a good girl, then around 5 am she had a heart attack and passed in my arms. Following that event, my migraine came back. There was no way I was going to uni. Around 8.30 am I finally was able to get back to sleep. I woke up around 1 pm and don't know what I did for the rest of the day. I did take some of my new migraine meds and the pain went away :). No work was achieved this day. 

Tuesday

I was not going into uni today either as we scheduled to bury my cat when Mum, me, and our partners were all available that afternoon. I had my counseling appointment via Zoom. I  started to organise some of my calendars, but no other work was achieved this day. I also was not up to going to the gym even.

Wednesday

I woke up to my 5 am alarm to watch Eurovision Semi-final 1. This is good, I will talk about Eurovision more later though. Once it finished around 7 am, I went back to bed. I probably woke around 12 or 1 pm and by now I was thinking "There is no point in going to uni this week is there?" I was still working through my grief, the exhaustion, and pain from having a migraine the past 10 days added to the exhaustion of worrying and caring for my cat. I had no ability to focus and no motivation. I did manage to get to the gym in the evening though :)

Thursday

My body and head were in pain, but nowhere near as much as the previous week or Monday. No uni work was done today but I met up with my Supervisor for my casual job for a couple of hours and worked through what we needed to. I did also send a couple of emails to my uni supervisors. In the evening I took my to a comedy event. The event was good, I just wish I didn't have to drive as I noticed a did a few things I would not normally have done if I were functioning properly. 

Friday

I had my alarms set for 5 am to watch Eurovision semi-final 2. Unfortunately, I didn't get up until 5.15 am so I missed the first 2 and a half performances :(. Thankfully, Australia was the final performance so I didn't miss them. Once this finished at 7 am I went back to bed, but only for a couple of hours, as I had scheduled things for the day. I met with my main supervisor over Zoom to catch up. Then I finally had my remedial massage, I had been waiting all week for this appointment with all my aches and pains. Despite the pain, my body isn't as bad as it used to be when I first started treatment a couple of years ago. My superficial muscles are still moveable! The reason I am feeling pain in new places is because my nerves now have access to blood flow. When I first went she could not get into my deep muscles as my superficial muscles were so bad, and also my muscles were cold with a lack of blood flow.  I also managed to do about an hour of uni work, reading, and a little bit of writing :).

Eurovision

The Grand final was 5 am - 9.15 am Sunday morning, and luckily I woke up in time to watch the entire thing live and vote :D.

Now Eurovision is very important for my mental health. You may be thinking "Why would you wake up at 5 am if you don't need to? Especially when you are exhausted and in physical pain!", but I need to for my own happiness. Eurovision is one of the few things I actually look forward to, I generally don't look forward to much in life as I end up getting let down a lot, but Eurovision has never failed me. 

I also much prefer to watch things live, or when they are first released if they are important to me. With the internet these days it is almost impossible to avoid spoilers! Also, I get to vote if I want to. It feels better when I watch it live than as a repeat, I just don't get the same serotonin from repeats. I did the same for Doctor Who's 50th anniversary special, that is wake up at 4 or 5 am to watch it. 

What made this year even better was the fact a band I knew and liked was Australia's representative this year! I only discovered them a bit over a year ago, but I've already seen them live once and will be again next month :D. 

Now - Monday again 

I dropped my youngest cat off at the vet this morning as she has gum and bone disease at only about 11 months old. She has had her teeth cleaned, some removed, xrays, and blood tests. Luckily she does not have FIV! I then drove all the way out to uni, which was quite exhausting being an hour-long trip (with tolls). I have done some work today, not a lot, but I'm trying. I have a bit of a headache and will probably head home in less than an hour, picking my cat up on the way of course! 

Tired.

It is now 7.30 pm. I am ready to go to sleep. I got up at around 1-1.30 pm. I started to doze off somewhere between now and then. I went to sleep around 1.30 am last night. Fitbit says I had just over 8 hours of sleep during that 12-hour period. I pretty much woke up every couple of hours.

The thing is that last night I probably had the best sleep I have had in the past week. For the past few days. I have had 4 - 5 hours of sleep per night/day. I have also been regularly waking up every 1 - 2 hours and then not being able to sleep for the next 1 - 2 hours. 

I would say the main cause of my sleeping issues is that one of my almost 16-year-old cats is not well. I am spending a lot of time worrying about her and hand-feeding her regularly to make sure that she actually consumes food and moisture.

It is not unusual for me to prioritise my pets' health over mine. It is very difficult for me not to. My pets, in particular my cats have helped me through a lot of my mental health problems and have given me reasons to live. 

I accept death as a part of life, and I know many more of my loved ones will die over my lifetime. However, I will do everything in my power to make sure their last few days or months are comfortable while spending as much quality time with them as possible. 

My migraine has been gone for a couple of days, however, my head is hurting a bit now. Hopefully, it does not develop into another migraine. This time at least I have a stronger medication.