"I'm Freakin' Sleepy!"

Most of you know that Jason is a 2nd year Orthopedic resident, and works crazy, and I mean CRAZY hours. It seems like weekly he will work 2 days straight, with no sleep and little food. (He would never complain, but it makes me furious! If I told you the actual hours he works straight sometimes, you would DIE.) He seriously pulls 15 hour days pretty much daily, and when he does come home, he still has a lot to do. (Prepare for cases, work on lectures, presentations, read articles, or "clean up the list". grrrr :) He is soooo tired, and while I know that, and hate it for him, it is my pet peeve to look over and see him asleep in his office chair! I want him to get his work done so he can go to bed, but he can't stay awake to get it done. It didn't bother me the first year or so, but lately it seems like he is sleeping more than he is awake! I know he is exhausted, so I encourage him to go to bed for a few hours, then get up and try again. He usually wakes up half way with a response like "I just need to do this injection" or "Do we have films on this guy?" or my favorite... "I'M FREAKIN' SLEEPY!" One night I gently tried to wake him up from a sitting up position, and he said "I'm fine. I read 5 minutes, then sleep 45." Another night I said, "J, go to bed for a while, you can't even hold your head up." And his response was, "I may fall asleep, but I'm going to go down trying!"

A few of you other wives of residents will get a kick out of this one. One night he was asleep and I couldn't get him to wake up enough to set his alarm. I ended up asking what time he needed to get up. He said he didn't know so I asked what time he needed to start rounding. He said "Probably right now." It was about midnight, and he actually usually has to leave around 4:00/4:30. That was pretty good.

Now I don't want this to sound like I am making fun in ANY WAY, or that I don't 100% support him. Because trust me, he and I crack up at some of the things he says, and some of the ways he falls asleep. We both get a kick out of this whole situation...the next day. :) That night, it's not much fun.

So I have taken a few pictures of Jason "going down trying" and shown it to him the next day. He usually cracks up, like I said, we both get a kick out of it later. Here are a few of him in action...or lack of...

Asleep, sitting up, reading the "Handbook of Fractures"

And our favorite...

He was like this for probably 15 minutes :)

Poor guy! It really is horrible to be that sleepy, in fact, I can't even imagine. We try to make the best of the situation, by making it a joke, but it's also quiet dangerous, so if you are ever awake in the middle of the night, say a quick prayer for J, and the other residents because they have to drive like this.

We also try to remember "this too shall pass!" Yeah, in about 4 years.

:)