Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Dream City

I've been noticing that I'm waking up with vivid memories of my dreams lately and I finally realized it's probably from the Plaquenil.

Typically, I rarely remember a dream, and if I wake up with it still in my head, it fades quickly. These dreams, I wake up and want to talk about because they're so weird! The only other time I had such vivid dreams that stuck with me was when I was pregnant with Ellie, and that's definitely not the situation now!

I kind of like remembering my dreams, although I have to be careful to remember that they're not real if I wake up angry with my husband over an argument I dreamed about. :)

The good news is still no negative side effects from the Plaquenil this time around. I wonder if it helps that I'm taking it in the evening this go-around instead of in the morning. That's been known to help me with medications that cause nausea, which was one of my symptoms last time fall.

***

I'm having some second thoughts about whether I'm ready to start taking classes again.

I had a 3 p.m. meeting yesterday with one of the disability counselors. The meeting went well; I found the counselor very supportive and encouraging. And she had dealt with students with autoimmune issues before so we were able to discuss things like whether attendance at class could be an issue.

The thing is, the vast majority of the classes in the paralegal program are offered in the evening. That works out well for students who are working full-time, as many are, as well as for the working attorneys who teach the classes.

But evenings are not a prime time for me. And I'm particularly worried about trying to drive across town for a class running 6-9 p.m. I'm at my worst both for fatigue and pain in the evenings, and I have doubts about ability to cope without painkillers that late in the evening. (And I feel very strongly about not getting behind the wheel when I'm on narcotic painkillers even if I don't notice a delay in my reaction time. There have been enough studies about alcohol to show that it really does affect one's ability to drive even if one "feels" sober.)

Scott and I talked about the possibility of using public transit, but then there was an article in the newspaper a few days ago about all the shootings in that vicinity that made me uncomfortable with the idea of standing on a street corner waiting for the bus.

(For those local readers, the classes are offered at PCC's Cascade Campus in North Portland. I didn't really consider it that bad a neighborhood until I saw the graphic in the Oregonian with all the red dots showing shootings scattered around the campus. As far as I know, there haven't been any shootings on campus, but there was at least one at the high school right across Killingsworth from the campus.)

Scott also reminded me how hard a time I had with the Living Well with Chronic Illness class I took earlier this year. I barely made it to four of the six afternoon sessions, and going knocked me out for the rest of the class day plus the next day.

So I don't know what I'm going to do. I guess I'll get my ducks in a row so that I can enroll this summer, and I'll have to evaluate how I'm feeling when registration starts in May to see if I think I really can do it. I really want to, but I just don't know if I'm up to it.

1 comment:

Stef said...

Is there any way for you to get the education you want by taking online classes?