About 9 months ago I started getting some really bad headaches. This was really unusual for me, because I’ve never been one to get headaches. They were coming everyday and I wasn’t really getting any relief.

I went through a few doctors, medications, tests, and scans trying to figure out what was wrong. They really couldn’t figure out what was going on and nothing was really helping.

That was until I was sent to a Neurologist, who knew what it was immediately. She put me on a new medicine and ordered a Sleep Study to confirm it. Sure enough she was right.

Sleep Apnea.  Once they confirmed what it was, I was put on a CPAP machine and while my headaches haven’t gone away completely it’s nice to at least know that and I’ve getting a decent nights sleep.

Previously, I was unable to sleep on any kind of Scout camp.  I would literally lay there at night with my eyes closed and think to myself "Go to sleep, it’s not that hard, you’re tired, now just go to sleep".  Come to find out, I was "sleeping" but I was also having episodes an average of 62 times an hour, so it just felt like I was awake all night long.

I went to the Varsity Big Event recently and was able to take my machine with me.  I won’t say that I slept perfectly, but it was much better than it was in the past.

So hopefully we’re on the right road and the headaches become a the past.

Currently in a tent in the West Desert.  The weather’s not bad.  No wind, but pretty cold.  Even though there’s been a bit of snow in the valley, the desert is pretty dry (aka, no mud).

Rather than bringing a pile of warm blankets and my air mattress, I decided to just bring my new bivy sack along with my new fleece sleeping bag and my old down sleeping bag.  I put the fleece bag inside of the down bag and those inside of the bivy sack.

I didn’t dare sleep out in the elements quite yet, but here in the tent on my cot (on a thin sleeping pad) I’m quite warm.  Now that I’ve finally learned to take the bag with me when I toss and turn instead of trying to move inside of the bag, in retrospect I think that I should have purchased the mummy bag instead of the rectangular bag.  Oh well, I guess I can do that when I wear this bag out.  At least with all of that extra material down at the bottom, my feet are warm.

Overall, it’s been a nice camp.  Now if only I could actually sleep.

Sunday’s are probably my most busy day of the week.  By the time I get home (tonight it was 7:00 pm) I’m exhausted and am ready for bed.

Luckily, I don’t have to work tomorrow thanks to our Presidents.

Laying here in a tent in my sleeping bag, trying to sleep.  I haven’t resorted to counting sheep yet, but I am listening to my iPod hoping that will help.

I have this real problem when I camp, I never get much sleep.  I don’t know what it is, but even if I do doze off a little I sleep so lightly that I wake up with the slightest noise.

You would think with going camping nearly every month of the last 16 or so months that I would get used to it and be able to get in a good night every so often, but it never seems to happen.

Oh well, at least I’m not freezing too.

Worked through most of the night last night, so I’m exhausted.  Time for bed.