Physically Fit

      It is very important that you always be aware of what your body is telling you regardless of whether you are dealing with an MI individual or not. This is more so when you are dealing with MI in your life. Your body tells you different things like when you are hungry, tired, happy, angry and many more. If you do not listen to your body and ignore it too long, it will retaliate, so to speak.
      When you are dealing with someone who has MI, this seemingly simple thing to do gets pushed to the side. In a crisis, a loved one is only thinking about what needs to happen to help the person with MI become stable again. You think to yourself, "I will rest when she is ok" or "I will get something to eat when they are secure and safe". Sometimes that can mean more then just a few hours, it can mean days.
       I know when my DD #2 is in crisis it usually happens in the evening hours when the day is winding down. I typically start my day at 6:00 am and by the time 8:00 pm come around, I am ready for bed. A typical crisis night for my DD #2 usually means a minimum of 7 hours sitting in an ER waiting for what is called a "psych consult". Once the consult is done and an inpatient stay is needed, the calls are made to get authorization from the insurance to proceed. Then finding a "psych bed" is another time consuming process.
       Once a bed is found and she is transported to the phosp (Psychiatric Hospital) it is usually the early morning hours. By the time I get home from signing the paperwork and arrive at home, I have been up for 24 hours, but it is not time to sleep yet. I have two other DD's at home to get up and get them ready for school within the hour, so I take advantage of the hour of peace and type up my daily notes from the over night hours.
       After my other DD's have left for school, it still is not time to sleep because typically when an admission is done in the overnight hours, you have to return to the phosp to meet with the case worker and the doctor at the facility. So you spend the next few hours calling all the people involved in your child's life like the school, the med doc, the counselor and any of the workers typically involved with the MI person. Once all those calls are made it's time to pack up some items that your child will need during their phosp stay like cloths, personal products, favorite pillow or stuffed animal and anything else that may help them.
       There is so much involved in this whole process that many do not even know and when you have more then one child, the work multiplies. During crisis times I typically am awake anywhere from 36-40 hours before I can finally get some sleep. Having to go through this one time is exhausting but you can manage without many issues arising. When you have to go through this numerous times, there is a risk that it will affect your health, especially when they are back to back crisis, meaning more then one in a 3-6 month period.
      Having back to back crisis times with phosp stays means that there is not much time for your body to recoup from the lack of sleep, the stress and decrease in nutrition. When your body does not have time to replenish itself, things begin to breakdown and ailments begin to "pop up". Things that normally would not bother you when you are relaxed and healthy, will put you on your butt.
      This year alone, we have gone through more then our share of crisis times and maybe even a little for someone else to boot, LOL. We are in the middle of my DD #2's third phosp stay in the past 5 months. I am not in the best of health right now nor am I ready to give up yet but I do realize that I have to take it easy this time. Due to my health declining I am forced to take it easy even when I don't want to but I need to for the sake of all of my DD's and not just the one inpatient.
      I am saying this just as much for me to see and read it, as it is for anyone else going through this. Make sure you take time for yourself to relax, even in the face of a crisis situation. Eat when you get a chance and carry crackers or something with you to keep your strength up. Sleep when you can, even if it is only an hour or so. Last but not least, make sure you call people to help you with the day to day things, that will free you up to take care of you, so you can help your loved one.