The Horizontal Stuff

I found chapter 11 to be fascinating and something I felt I could relate to a great deal. You read all about a study done through NASA to learn the effects of life without gravity, but with gravity. Men and woman are paid $17,000 to do a bed rest test. They don’t get to even sit up at all, just lay around all day and night while being fed their meals. Scientists want to know how much muscle and bone can deteriorate through this time, what are the risks and causes of not being able to put weight on your bones? In Packing For Mars we read about a study done by Dennis Carter who suggests that 2 years in space won’t turn you into a jellyfish but you will lose from 1/3-1/2 of your bone mass in your lower body. So just stepping on land with gravity after this time could break your bones (213). 

This chapter was so appealing to be because I felt I could relate to it in a small way. My first pregnancy in 2012 was difficult I was almost bed ridden. Luckily I still did things, I was allowed to do things, but all of the side effects I had made me this lazy lump. By the end of my pregnancy I had gained a total of 100 pounds, which is obviously not healthy. It’s 2 years later and I am still that same weight. The 9 months of “laying around” had such a negative effect on both my body and my mind. It has been extremely difficult to come out of the funk it put me in. I’ve worked out, ate right, have had both a personal trainer and a therapist. It’s something I will deal with for quite some time. 

There may have been a day in my life that I felt being “paid to lay around all day” (211) for $17,000 was heaven! While that money and the contribution I would make to science is all good, I could never put myself through such torture. The depression and corruption it takes on the mind is not worth it to me, though some may be much stronger than I am, both mentally and physically. What a great read.