Trading Sleep For Money

I love you.

Today we are going to talk about something not one of my readers really 'gets' in as far as the feedback comments go.

So I am going to educate you gently about a very important concern to humanity in general.

Our physical bodies are designed with the following 'needs' or 'drives':

• food and water
• companionship
• sleep
• air

In four minutes we die when deprived of oxygen.

In about forty-eight to seventy-two hours we have extreme physical and psychological repercussions when we are deprived of sleep. (This is actually a tactic used in torture, and also in mind-control programming).

We can go without water for about a day, or two. And for food, about a week.

In medical school we are trained to put the patient first.

This means that when you are on duty, and the patient is not doing so good, you take care of them before you eat, drink, sleep, or go to the bathroom. The only thing that isn't changed is access to oxygen, however,  in the O.R. on a sick bowel case or a peri-rectal abscess or a burn case, you choke while you breathe...

So this article is written for all those who provide essential services: truck drivers, pilots of any kind, healthcare, police, fire, and emergency services. I think the military and also hotel industries work all night too. And I know in my heart, those who are financially disadvantaged and work three jobs are pushing their sleep requirements to the bare minimum, too.

we trade our sleep for money.

And even if you switch to sleeping days so you can work night shifts--our bodies are designed with their circadian rhythms to sleep at night, not work. 

I can't tell you how many times post-call I have been woken up by the garbage truck, the gardeners, the sprinklers, a phone call, or even a loud truck.

Here comes the part where I strive to be delicate...in my opinion, it's time to face the problem and come up with a solution, instead of saying 'thank you for your service' to these individuals who live lives that are in service to others.

It's time because it takes a toll on their health.

It's time because their family life suffers. (we used to let a night shift hospital friend sleep days between shifts at our house when my boy was little--his early childhood was SHHHH! Don't do that! You'll wake up Lorrie!)

It's time because night work gets additional compensation--a 'differential'--across the board, yet people tend to look at the income and judge that without understanding why it's a trade-off.

How can we solve the situation?

Go With Biology Across The Board:

Pilots, truck drivers, and resident physicians are under legislation to limit the work hours because it is a well-known fact that reaction time and mental functioning in humans decreases after sixteen hours of work.  In fact it decreases to as if one has taken one drink of alcohol--this is the degree of impairment.

One hospital in my area has an additional anesthesiologist work an eight hour shift at night as relief to those on duty. They give one four hour 'break' to the OB guy, and then another four hours to the OR guy. This works with the biology of those 'on duty' to minimize the adverse health effects of their work shift. This four hours, plus whatever they can get at home, is 'enough' for long term career responsibilities.

(Many resident physicians used to have car accidents because they'd fall asleep on the road on the way home after their shifts.)

I have worked as a 'Nocturnist' in a local ICU. Ideally that would have been my only work. But I was moonlighting. So know that although their ICU Day staff had 'relief' by our night team, sometimes those at night have not slept a full 'day'.

Realize We All Deserve A Good Night's Sleep:

When one suffers, we all suffer. There is no escaping this. We need to re-think how our lifestyle in society 'melds' with our basic biological needs. The negative energy and karma as a collective of all of our Combined Consciousness is limited because we are content to 'let the other guy do it' and not realize that from an energy standpoint, all of our auras are linked and those suffering are holding us back from our greatest possibilities.

Zero Point:

I ask for this one several times a day. I ask for it incessantly. Earth is a 'school of learning' where the illusion of linear time was created to enhance the learning experience in a three-dimensional world. It was to make sure we can all do things in a coordinated fashion.

Very advanced mystics and those who connect to the consciousness on 'other worlds' are very aware that time as we know it does not exist.

I have friends who can stretch the timelines to make a deadline. They can see and manipulate the grid just enough--not major---to get the time they need.

If you've ever fallen, or had certain moments in your memory (mine was winning five thousand dollars in one minute on a game show)--you will notice how time slows down, or stands still--in your perception. And also, in the opposite idea--'time flies when you are having fun'.

When we get to the vibrational state that is called Zero Point--the Illusion will end, and Time will not exist.

It turns out that the love songs 'until the end of time' were prophetic, were they not?

In Reiki, there is no barrier that is caused by distance or time.

Reiki healing is 'quantum' in a way, because the Consciousness of the Healer can affect the physical, emotional, and spiritual body of another even if it is separated by distance or time.

Reiki level 2 is all that is needed to learn what is called 'The Distance Symbol' and anyone who knows how to use it and is attuned to it (HSZHN are the initials--we do not share Reiki symbols or names on the internet--except when I am guided by spirit to teach)--can heal both their past and future in one fell swoop! 

(My favorite is sending it ahead to important meetings so all I have to do is 'step in' to the Reiki energy that is waiting there for me in time.)

Next thing we need to discuss is parenting and THAT associated sleep deprivation!

Aloha and Mahalos,

Namaste,

Peace,

Reiki Doc

P.S. The last solution--I think Ross helped me remember--is to change the physical body so that the drives are different. There are many Galactics who do not require sleep the way our bodies do. Adama from Telos in Agartha, for example, does not sleep. He rests, but does not stop working to liberate surface Gaia...

Ask, Believe, Receive

Yesterday I was on First Call for the main Operating Room at my hospital.

As I was going to sleep the on Saturday Night, Spirit (my Twin Flame--the 'mystery guest' as of late) asked me what I wanted for Sunday?

I thought and came up with this:

• I want a nice day with nice cases and good people to work with.
• I want to sleep at night.
• I want to eat meals and not go hungry.
• I want to understand how we 'met' in our last incarnation together
• I want to get my presents wrapped, the most important ones I had to do (from 'Santa')

And I forgot about it.

This morning when I woke up after not being called in through the night…my Twin Flame smiled as I made the following 'connections':

• On the way to work, He showed me how I was younger than him, and always sought him out for one reason or another. We grew up together, and I was about five years younger than him. We were 'promised' together but didn't know it. We were the same culture and therefore the same 'religion' as it were. He showed me our 'arranged first meeting'.  : ))) And it blossomed from there.
• Very easy cases all through the day with my favorite people to work with--favorite lady surgeon, favorite circulating nurse, favorite scrub tech, favorite PACU…favorite gastroenterologist, and a surgeon who had once been my anesthesia student but left to go into surgery.
• There was a gap before the last add-on, I ate salad.
• I had to drop off some editing work at my favorite restaurant, Au Lac. I went there at the end of the day, and had a tostada (it's vegan).
• Sleepiness overcame me on my way home. I'm not sure why. I rested on the couch as soon as I came home. Mom woke me up at five, but kept the call short so I could rest. I was warm and cozy, and didn't realize I had slept most of the night. I woke up and changed out of my scrubs, and went to bed. This morning I was astonished that I had slept over twelve hours. Possibly fifteen. My Twin Flame said I had been catching up on lost sleep. He asked me in the morning, 'Do you feel groggy?' No. Not at all. I feel refreshed.
• There had been a lot of 'downloads' of energy as I rested on the couch. I could feel the tingling as it happened. I told my medical 'team' -- 'in the rafters' I appreciated their work. I asked if one day I could learn. I said, 'I want to learn to push the buttons'. And they CRACKED UP. They knew I push an awful lot of buttons a day in my work, and that to me, medicine involves not just the science and the drugs but a lot of equipment too. (I make them laugh all the time. They find my thinking very unconventional and most refreshing.)
• My Twin invited me to Where He Sits 'on board' ship. He asked me if I wanted to push The Big Button with him. I saw it, again big and red, with a ring of silver metal around it. This one was different from the one I did last week (two throws of the levers like an old movie, then the red one). This had some safety device on it that was plastic and had to be unlocked. It took my whole right hand to push it. He put his hand on mine, and we 'sandwiched' our hands as we pushed. I didn't see anything happen except a bunch of lights flashing down below. They were beautiful. But then I was 'gone' and don't recall anything else.

Today I asked to do the following things:

• Pay my taxes (I do quarterly) and figure out my health insurance (I lost coverage).
• Wrap the other presents.
• Relax.
• Bake sugar cookies with my son and decorate them.
• Have a nice breakfast, lunch and dinner at home.
• Figure out who is going to watch my son over winter break (he doesn't like day care).
• Watch a nice movie, a Christmas one, with my boy tonight.

Oh, and one last thing--here is a pasta recipe you might like to try. I made it on Saturday, and really liked it.

Meyer's Lemon-Ricotta Pasta:

• Roast 1 bunch of broccoli, all cut up, including stalk. Ten minutes each side at 400F. Be sure to drizzle olive oil on it. Turn at ten minutes. Watch close, mine got a little too 'done'.
• Take 3/4 cup ricotta cheese, add juice and 'zest' of one fresh Meyer Lemon. Stir well.
• Boil 'fresh pasta' like fettucini. (Mine STUCK. I'd do regular pasta, the hard kind, next time).
• Save the pasta water.
• Mix hot pasta with about 1/4 cup of the ricotta mixture, to coat.
• Add the broccoli and the rest of the mixture to the pasta, stir well and serve in big pasta bowl. If it comes a little 'thick' add a little pasta water to the mixture to 'thin' it. Add as much as it takes to make it the consistency you wish...
• Salt and pepper to taste.
• Serves two for main course, serves more for buffet.

(Here's where I got the recipe from--I wanted to just link to it but it's not up. http://www.farmfreshtoyou.com/recipes#tab-4)

Enjoy!

So tonight when you go to sleep, tell Spirit what YOU want for tomorrow. And forget about it. 

You might be surprised the next day what you asked for happened!

Aloha and Mahalos,

Namaste,

Reiki Doc

Spirit asks to post this now. I choose the happy tune, and not the awful lyrics, for me.

(CCR Bad Moon Rising)

P.S. Total page views this month: 24,426

24 = Additional angels are surrounding you right now, helping you stay optimistic no matter what is going on around you. The angels know the magical power of faith, and they're releasing any negative thoughts and emotions to give you a clear path for the manifestation of your desires.

42 = The angels are urging you to keep the faith!

Stress Reduction In Medical Students

The stress begins just trying to get accepted INTO med school. The GPA. The letters of recommendation. The volunteer work. The MCATs. The applications. The interviews (you have to pay for all travel and accommodations).

Then there is the move. And the first day of medical school! At last, it is the dream come true! I remember eating lunch on the lawn with a circle of my classmates, in a formal 'small group getting to know each other' setting. We bought our own white coats--now these are given in a small 'ceremony' to the entering students. (Remember, the shorter the coat, the newer the student! The longer the coat, then they are 'attendings'.) But the Dean of the school gave us a chilling lecture--she said, 'This is the first day in your career you won't be behind!'

She was right. The amount of facts mastered in the first two years was mind-boggling. I literally studied until I couldn't learn any more and went to sleep. There were tests and practicals and 'introduction to being in the hospital' classes. That same dean told us to allow about three hours a day for our needs--one hobby, exercise, meals, housekeeping. Everything else was spent learning medicine.

I took a special course that took extra time: Medical Spanish. I decided to not have to wait for the interpreter the rest of my career. But this took my lunch hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Thursday afternoons I went to a clinic that was Latino to practice--for two years straight!

A group of us was interested in Alternative Medicine. We had a class and I learned during this elective about Ayurveda, acupuncture, massage, herbal medicine…many things.

A classmate was a karate black belt, and he offered classes for us. It was 'Yo Shu Kai' karate. I earned my yellow belt. Others were ballroom dancers, and we would practice in breaks between classes and sometimes go downtown together to try out our 'stuff'.

My favorite was wednesday nights. I took Jazz dance (Hip Hop) at the rec center. I couldn't afford ballet at the studio my friend went to . But together we went to Salsa dancing until ten at night. It was the best fun I had all year.

I also had a year pass to the local zoo, and went to mass every week.

Second year, I actually taught massage to the first years, as part of a new course in Stress Reduction.

Some schools now have more formal courses, and a few include Reiki.

Here is an article on the latest news about stress reduction techniques in medical student education: http://www.examiner.com/article/meditation-is-helping-medical-students

What is NOT written in this, and is important to note, is that work hours ARE limited for both medical students in the hospital rotations (they are generally excused at three in the afternoon 'to go read') and residents (eighty hour work week). There are NO work hour limits for physicians.

After sixteen hours awake, studies have shown that impairment is equivalent to one alcoholic drink.

Some hospitals take this seriously, just as they would for pilots, and truckers. They have a 'breaker' person come in to give a four-hour nap to the on-call anesthesiologist in the O.R. and immediately after, the O.B. anesthesiologist. (I do not know about the other specialties).

Others, like my own, assign twenty-four hour shifts and do not guarantee more than 'the short room' for the following post-call day.

This is an important part of health care no one likes to discuss.

I think you should know.


Aloha and Mahalos,
Namaste,

Reiki Doc


P.S. eating RAW vegan gives me the energy I need to 'keep up' with all-night shifts. It makes a tremendous difference in my stamina. Also, 'light lunches' keep me from getting sleepy in the O.R. which is often very dark after lunch.

Without Rest

Today I am on OB. Labor and delivery, putting in epidurals and doing c sections.

My day I asked to work was yesterday. I worked that day too. Twenty four hours. I never went home.

Do you know that those work hour restrictions that are for residents in training are not in effect once you graduate?

Right now I am held hostage to The Favor Bank.

Want to go on vacation? Get sick? Need to go home early to see a school activity that is important to your kid?

Ask a favor of a buddy.

For being sick and making a friend work an extra twenty four hours for me (forty eight straight for him) I got to stay late on my only day of the week early, get my kid to be after ten because the babysitter could not get him to do his school project, come in post call on another day to let him go to a meeting about the new group (there is a coup), and split work across two days so he can go do plastic surgery and "optimize his income". But the catch is he booked himself at another hospital that night. So I get to work thirty six hours straight.

Good thing my son is out of town, isn't it?

And the favors aren't enough. He wants another split next week and I said no. There is no school or daycare. He pressured and said he would pay the babysitter if I did it. I just want to stay home. I work Christmas day and am post call Christmas Eve. The whole point of this schedule was to make myself available to be home to spend time with family.

He has threatened me to " make it so you never find work in The Area" , and is trying to take over the group.

Senior partners are trying to cash in on favors at the last minute, asking me to work from ten to two on a Saturday. Or to stay late and do an appy at eight at night.

So you wonder why I am not cheerful when I take care of you late at night? If it wasn't for a slow night I would not be functioning now. Thankfully the section is at eight instead of seven.

Time for breakfast.

Spirit says to follow your heart, and the path to your true hearts' desire then is guided by Spirit and effortless to follow.

I am trying to figure this out.

When I medicate, I get "hang on for one more day. Hang on"

I will.

Like me, your doctor may be sleepy. I set off all the drowsiness monitoring system in the car on the way home from the time share. It blows cold wind in your face, and beeps when you veer lanes.