What Do I Do All Day? I Nap

This is the fifth in a series of posts about how a disabled person like me passes the time at home, now that I no longer work.

“Are you serious Mitch? You expect me to read a blog post about napping, and not fall asleep myself from boredom and disinterest?”

Challenge accepted! This will be THE MOST INTERESTING blog post you have ever read on the subject of napping.

Approximately 80% of people with MS suffer from disease-related fatigue. I’m one of them. In addition to the MS fatigue, as a person with limited mobility I have difficulty remaining comfortable throughout the night in bed. That’s another reason I am tired during the day.

Before MS I never, ever napped. But now I’ve gotten the hang of it. I can take naps between 15 and 30 minutes long once or twice a day while Kim is at work.

One tool that has made napping easier for me is my Invacare TDX SP wheelchair, which I use most of the time when I am inside the house. Here are some pictures of me assuming the napping position.

First, I have to silence my TV, laptop, iPad, and iPhone, and then I put a pillow behind my head.



I recline to a comfortable position, even though I could recline even further if I wanted to. Note that the 90° angle between my legs and my back is maintained throughout the reclining operation. My occupational therapist who helped me obtain this wheelchair said that I couldn’t get the flat reclining feature because I had no particular back problems. Maybe next time I’ll go for that feature. But this is pretty darn comfortable as is. It’s like I get to spend all day, every day, in my own mobile La-Z-Boy.



I lift my feet up a little bit, even though I could lift them further if I wanted to. I take one last look at the clock because I want to know when my nap started, and then I close my eyes.



I lie there until a little alarm inexplicably goes off in my head, and my eyes suddenly open. I then check the clock to see how long I napped. I sit back up and choose one of the other What Do I Do All Day? activities, now slightly rejuvenated.

How’d I do? Are you still awake?

Here are my other posts in this series: 
    
1. I Watch (mostly) Quality Television
2. I Digitize and Archive Family Photos and Videos
3. I Read Books
4. I Attend Courses at Top Universities (sort of)
6. I Blog
7. I Read Other People's Blogs