Our main topic for tonight is how to make sure you get the sleep you need to stay (or get) well. Some time ago, I wrote about Cancer-Related Fatigue, a consequence of cancer and its treatments that has never really gone away for me. We had a lovely dialogue about how to deal with CRF, but we didn't talk much about sleep itself, and how to facilitate a good sleep regime. Hence the revised focus for tonight.
I'm happy to report that to some degree my fatigue may be lessening, which may be the result of me going off of my hormone therapy last October. But I still do need what seems to me to be an inordinate amount of sleep. Unless I get eight solid hours at night, I'm a wreck the next day. And even if I do get my eight, I still need a good nap.
When I do get that good night's sleep, I awake in the morning feeling rested and ready to get up. What a concept, right? Otherwise, I get up because I must, not because I feel ready to face my day's responsibilities.
My younger daughter has suffered for years with irregular and unpredictable sleep. It's a torment not to get good sleep, so we've investigated a lot of options. That means I do have a large repertoire of techniques to use to improve my sleep, including but not limited to:
* Starting to get to bed at 10 PM, so as to be able to sleep in synch with the body's circadian rhythms
* Eating my largest meal in mid-day, not late
* Drinking a warm, soothing tea such as chamomile before bed
* Avoiding screen time for an hour or so before getting ready for bed, to help quiet the mind
But do I actually FOLLOW these suggestions? Ha! Not nearly as often I would like. After all, I'm often here these Monday evenings till midnight or later, which means I'm not complying with the first and last points above (at least). Yet on those rare days when I do awake feeling refreshed, it feels so good I want to do it more often. I just find it terribly difficult to break the bad habits of many years' duration. Know what I mean?
I've just had the reassurance of another clean CT scan (well, with the exception of my chest CT, which hadn't been read by the end of the day) so I feel renewed enthusiasm for my self-care routines, including good sleep hygiene. That might mean a couple of things for our scheduling here at the MNCC, or at least for the length of my first-round participation.
Please join me for more on this topic, plus some meta, after the jump.
I would like our major focus of discussion tonight then to be HOW you get yourself to go to bed at a decent hour, and then WHAT you do to promote good sleep for yourself. But I'd also like to chat briefly about what YOU all would like for the MNCC diaries.
ZenTrainer and I are beginning to wonder if we need to shake things up more around here to get more readership--and writership--for the MNCC. We've dropped the "Monday Night Cancer Club" from our title, hoping that the absence of that label will stop discouraging people from participating. We don't have any way to know if that's indeed been the case, of course, but we figured it was worth a try. But what else do you think we could/should do to maintain this series and pull in more readers and writers for it?
Should we change the posting window? Should we seek out guest writers more often? Should we promote the weekly diaries more aggressively? Should we write about different kinds of topics? Should we establish a pattern for the diaries, à la KosAbility, so that people know what to expect and to contribute?
We're open to hearing what you would like to see at the MNCC. However, it seems only fair for me to note that when you make a suggestion, we may well ask you to help implement it! So please do keep your schedule in mind when you offer feedback. For that matter: please also feel free to volunteer to write an upcoming diary. Our schedule is completely open.
We like running the MNCC, don't get me wrong. But if there's a way you think we can make it better, we'd like to hear it.
At the same time, we are also interested in your sleep tips. And, as always, this is also an Open Thread.
Monday Night Cancer Club is a Daily Kos group focused on dealing with cancer, primarily for cancer survivors and caregivers, though clinicians, researchers, and others with a special interest are also welcome. Volunteer diarists post Monday evenings between 7:30-8:30 PM ET on topics related to living with cancer, which is very broadly defined to include physical, spiritual, emotional and cognitive aspects. Mindful of the controversies endemic to cancer prevention and treatment, we ask that both diarists and commenters keep an open mind regarding strategies for surviving cancer, whether based in traditional, Eastern, Western, allopathic or other medical practices. This is a club no one wants to join, in truth, and compassion will help us make it through the challenge together.