Two weeks ago, four days after I had been discharged the first time, I was readmitted to the hospital. The reasons for this return are complicated, meaning that I don't feel like getting into them right now, but suffice it to say that my reentry into the world of twenty-four-seven medical supervision was swift, unexpected, … Continue reading Readmission/Return
Looking Back, Moving Forward
Over six weeks later, and I've finally been discharged from the hospital. Over six weeks: that's a month and a half of my life. And the saga's not over yet. Not really. Health problems of this nature aren't (surprise surprise) miraculously resolved when you're handed your discharge papers and head home. I've got a ways … Continue reading Looking Back, Moving Forward
Pin Cushion: Reflections on Patient Passivity
Friday morning, I was awoken around six by the voice of a middle-aged woman. I opened one eye just enough to see that she was sporting delightfully over-the-top scrubs, the kind with a cartoon motif that assistants in pediatric dental offices wear. "I'm from the lab, sweetie; I just need to draw some blood." Of course you are. Of course you do. After looking … Continue reading Pin Cushion: Reflections on Patient Passivity
Hitting Four Weeks and Experiencing Emotions
It's been almost a month. Crazy. It's been almost a month, and I'm not sure when I'll be discharged, but it definitely won't be in the next few days, and I'm secretly happy that it won't be in the next few days since a little part of me knows that it isn't time to go home yet. My … Continue reading Hitting Four Weeks and Experiencing Emotions
Two and a Half Weeks Later
It's been over two weeks now, and I'm still chillin' in the hospital. Positive spin: I get to eat that amazing hospital food that I featured in my last blog entry; all social engagements must take place at my bedside, which is convenient for me and immensely inconvenient for others; I have lots of time … Continue reading Two and a Half Weeks Later
Hospital Food and Ticking Boxes (Highlights of My Current Existence)
Nine days in to my current hospital stay, I feel well enough to waste some of my limited computer time blogging when I could be, oh, e-mailing my mother (sorry, Mom) or taking care of business (sorry, business). I don't, however, want to burden my brain or readership by blogging about anything serious, so instead, I will focus on something happier: … Continue reading Hospital Food and Ticking Boxes (Highlights of My Current Existence)
Curveballs
Sometimes, despite your months-long effort to responsibly follow your treatment plan, life throws you a curve ball. That's what happened last Friday night: life threw us a curve ball. A big, serious, scary, overwhelming curve ball. The brain, I'm learning, is the strangest of organs. Just when I think I've figured mine out, it reminds me … Continue reading Curveballs
EMU: It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s a Long and Unpleasant Hospital Stay!
It looks like I have a tentative date—or date range, anyway—for an admission to the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit at a hospital here in Toronto. Yay! Yay. Yay? Ugh. I have, as I’ve probably made evident, conflicted emotions about this. On the one hand, it has to happen eventually, and I’ve waited a long time for … Continue reading EMU: It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s a Long and Unpleasant Hospital Stay!
Stretches: Unreasonable Expectations and Consolation Prizes
So, as many of my Facebook friends (hey guys!) among my readership know, I'm now entering day five of a seizure-free stretch. I at first attributed this amazing development to the annual kickoff of my almost-daily trips to Menchies, but yesterday I got my froyo elsewhere, so there might be—shocker—some actual medical explanation for it. … Continue reading Stretches: Unreasonable Expectations and Consolation Prizes
Crash Course
So, I hit my head last Monday in the usual mid-seizure way, which resulted in a “mild” concussion (“mild” in quotation marks because I wasn’t told that it’s mild but just assume/decided it is to make myself feel better). I know, I know: it’s like every time I knock my brains around, they miraculously get … Continue reading Crash Course
De Morbo Sacro: Life and/with Epilepsy 