I took a 24-hour break. Really! I had a very good reason for it, as I'll explain.

My wife, who happens to be living in the U.S. right now (see My Wife Is Leaving Me! and My Wife Is Gone Now. Let’s Start Partying!), has been having some health problems. These problems are tied to a car accident she was in six years ago. Before we both left the U.S. in 2006 to live in the Philippines (she returned to the U.S. in May by herself and is living with her cousin), she had spent more than two years going back and forth to doctors to find out what was wrong with her. Two doctors had specifically examined her in response to her symptoms.

Since the accident, and after treatment by a chiropractor, she has had numbness in her left arm, neck, and the left side of her face. This has been on and off all this time, not bothering her all the time but enough to cause concern for both of us. One doctor went so far as to tell her she had an extra bone next to the vertebrae in her neck. Another doctor, a nerve specialist, told her she had arthritis in her neck. Yesterday (or the day before depending on you look at the difference in our time zones), she went to another doctor because the numbness and pain were preventing her from sleeping. When she mentioned the other two doctors, this doctor laughed. He knew they were quacks as much as I did.

When I was in the military, I saw this happen quite a bit. Other men, during training, would get their necks bumped around and then have to head to the doctor on base. The cause of their problems was almost always a pinched nerve in the neck. When my wife started complaining, I told her that's what I thought it was. The symptoms were the same. Well, after she described her symptoms to the latest doctor, his first thought was that she had a pinched nerve and he told her that. She told him that was what I had been saying all along. He took x-rays of her neck from different angles. My wife had not told him about the car accident yet. His first question looking at the x-rays was if she had been in a car accident.

The doctor is also a qualified chiropractor. She didn't know that until he told her. Anyway, she's going back to him on Tuesday because he is going to manipulate the bones in her neck to move the vertebrae away from the nerve. In the meantime, he prescribed melato… something. I couldn't make out what she said over the instant messenger. They're sleeping pills of some kind.

This brings me to my 24-hour break. After worrying about her for about three years, the news that she was finally going to get relief from the numbness and the pain caused me to feel (I don't know exactly how to describe it) like the weight of the world had been lifted off my shoulders. I was elated and somehow that translated into sudden fatigue. I felt tired and sleepy and I really don't know why the news had that kind of effect on me. I managed to stay awake and up until after cooking and eating dinner with my son (I even answered a few email messages and comments). About an hour after that, around 7 pm, I gave up the ghost and went to bed. I just got up at 6 am this morning. 11 hours of sleep! I haven't slept that much since I was a teenager!