Middle of night / early morning

I'm woken up for my middle-of-night pill. Is it the anti-fitting? Or the anti-swelling steroid? Who knows... I just swallow it like an expert. And go back to sleep.

Then wake up to go to the toilet. I don't notice having slept but it's now after 3am. This time I have some trouble getting back to sleep.

Okay, finally, I'm a bit worried! So I think of Deb, for comfort. That stops the worry (mostly) but my mind continues to wander. After a while I decide that I may as well pass some thoughts on to the night nurses. Out the door, the nurse station is just across the corridor.

First: I'm on a starvation diet from midnight. Can I drink water? No... Drat.

Next: Way back, at Charlies, I was asked if I'd been to any exotic -- disease-ridden -- locations. Not really, I replied. New Zealand? Antarctica? But now it crosses my mind, that the road to Kununurra gets sub-tropical. Could I have picked up a sub-tropical brain parasite?!

I drove for maybe ten days. Sleeping in dodgy roadhouses. Sleeping in the truck by the road. It's a long shot -- but I like the idea of "parasite"... At least, I like parasite more than mysterious cancerous brain tumour...

I asked the nurse if she could add "possible parasite?" to my case notes. I doubt if she did, she struck me as the junior nurse whose main responsibility is to stay awake all night. So I must remember to pass the parasite thought on to Mr Lam. Give him something to look out for...

I have no problem with having my skull opened and my brain prodded. But it would be really nice if Lam found something as simple as a parasite! Just spray some Mortein and close up the skull... Hah! As if it could be that simple. But I'm always the optimist :-)

I'm also kept awake by another, more serious worry. I could  lose some fine motor skills. What if I also get a new personality? I'm bad enough as it is... I must tell Deb, if there's any change, let me know. I'd hate to not realise that my axe-murderer tendencies are new.

So: Talk to Deb about personality. Talk to Lam about parasite. Don't drink the water. Remember all that. Now go to sleep... Only three hours till the nurses will wake me up for pills and no breakfast. Sigh.

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Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
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"Wow, I never thought of it like that before." … Joan D. Vinge