Postictal

Earlier this evening, I had a seizure while taking a shower. Luckily I had already rinsed out the shampoo (small blessings, right?), though conditioner wasn't going to happen, for obvious reasons. Of all possible "injuries," slightly crispy hair ranks pretty low. Indeed, I didn't seriously hurt myself beyond a sore leg and a few bruises. … Continue reading Postictal →

Helen Stephens, Bravery, and Irrational Fears

The recent publication of Helen Stephens’ photo diary in the Guardian affected me in a very personal way. The images, which are juxtaposed with her reflective writings, show Stephens in a variety of post-seizure states. They are impactful, human, and brave, and I commend her for her willingness to be so public about her experience with … Continue reading Helen Stephens, Bravery, and Irrational Fears →

Wrong Side of the Bed

I woke up on the wrong side of the bed on Wednesday morning. Literally. It’s funny how disconcerting it was to have my husband snoring to my right rather than to my left, but I figured that I must’ve had a seizure then immediately fallen asleep the night before. Andrew confirmed that this was the … Continue reading Wrong Side of the Bed →

Non-Chronic Illness

I’ve got a backlog of things to blog about. I’ve also got a serious backlog of real work to do, so there you go. One thing at a time, as someone once said. We got back from a just-about-perfect trip to NYC/NJ on Sunday afternoon. My husband got the stomach flu on Monday; I got … Continue reading Non-Chronic Illness →

Maria Bamford and Bad Ideas

WARNING: stop reading if you're offended by mental illness (in which case, please never visit my blog again) or by stale raisin bread. A few years ago, my husband and I went to see Maria Bamford at a comedy club in Toronto. For the uninitiated, Bamford is one of the best comedians in the history … Continue reading Maria Bamford and Bad Ideas →

Love Languages

My husband and I have very different ideas of romance and attitudes towards PDAs (mine on the effusive side of things, his more reserved). I'm right, obviously, and incidentally resist ever conceding that I'm in the wrong, but I respect his objectively superior approach to relationships. I recently took a quiz based on a somewhat … Continue reading Love Languages →

Academic Update

Just in case you were wondering, I didn't meet my self-imposed end-of-January thesis goal. Not that I'm surprised, really. I used to be the kind of person who never missed deadlines, but things are, of course, different now, and that's OK. Really. I've spent from the middle of January up to now scraping by instead of … Continue reading Academic Update →

A Field Guide to Embarrassment

When I was a kid, my mom liked to remind my brothers and me that as our mother, it was her job to embarrass us. She excelled at this self-appointed vocation. I'm pretty good at embarrassing myself now. Beyond seizure-related incidents, even. I have a tendency to fall in public in a dramatic, banana-peel fashion; … Continue reading A Field Guide to Embarrassment →

Epilepsy Dreaming

I’ve never been much of a dreamer. I don’t mean that in the life-ambitions-metaphorical sense, but rather in the literal I-wake-up-with-a-blank-and-refreshed-mind one. Which is kind of funny, since I come from a family in which dream telling, arguably among the most annoying of pursuits, is a thing. Indeed, in contrast with the vast majority of … Continue reading Epilepsy Dreaming →

PhDetour

(Props to my husband for the title. He suggested it for a book that will never come to fruition, so I’m requisitioning it for use here.) I realize that this ostensibly epilepsy-and-academics blog has been heavy on the epilepsy side of things. It’s thus time, I guess, to include a little about school. Ah, PhD. … Continue reading PhDetour →