Awake, O Sleeper!

It’s common knowledge that I like sleep. I always have. Of course, as a little girl, I resisted the traditional Sunday afternoon nap, afraid I was going to miss something of the goings-on at home. They couldn’t very well leave me out of those all-exciting football games on TV or cookie baking ventures in the kitchen, could they? Well, they didn’t. My parents were just as fond of naps as I wasn’t at that time.

Over the years, however, that changed. I started enjoying my sleep time. I looked forward to retiring (even for a nap) to my bed. I guarded my sleep preciously, so much so that, by the time I got to college, I could sleep for 10-12 hours and still be in need of more, walking around fatigued all day.

Sound normal?

Well, good, because it’s not, and it’s only in the last month or so that I’ve learned exactly how un-normal that was.

I went in for some routine blood work in January and found out I have pernicious anemia, a disorder where my body doesn’t absorb vitamin B12 from my food. The most common symptom is constant fatigue, regardless of how much sleep is had. As it turns out, the disorder is genetic, and, well, I’ve known all my life that my mom gives herself B12 shots (yeah, she’s a nurse—she can do that sort of stuff).

Since being diagnosed, I’ve started taking B12 supplements, and I can’t express how dramatic the difference is. I feel awake during the day! It’s not that I don’t yawn anymore or feel tired, but when I’m awake, I don’t feel like there’s a fog above my head and a haze in front of my eye balls. I don’t have to carry around toothpicks to prop open my eyelids any more. :)

Praise the Lord for the ability he has given doctors to spur us on toward health, and Praise the Lord for the complexity of our bodies to use sleep and vitamins automatically for health!

“Therefore, if anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore, it says,

‘Awake, O sleeper,
arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.’

Look carefully, then, how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”

(Ephesians 5:13-17)