On Monday, a friend sent me an illustration from an Instagram account that I'd never heard of (I'm now hooked). Though the artist's life experience is, of course, different from my own, I was struck by how deeply her sentiment—one that I didn't realize I shared—resonated with me. I'm guessing that a visual would be … Continue reading Inspiration Expectation: Why It’s Not OK to Want Me to “Perform” for You
And now, back to a post that I was working on before I was distracted by less-pleasant events. As the title of this post gives away, I recently had my first post–brain injury night away from the security of my husband and apartment in the form of a Saturday–Sunday trip to London, Ontario. I had … Continue reading First Post-ABI Night Away from Home: Major Anxiety, Major Success
Wheel-Trans is the door-to-door accessible option of Toronto's public transportation system for those who qualify for the service. While it used to be only for people with physical disabilities, it recently "open[ed] up [its] eligibility criteria to include any person with a disability that prevents a person from taking conventional transit for all or part … Continue reading Wheel-Trans: How to Trans-form Your Life Using Public Transportation Alone
It's not often that I follow through when I write that my next post will be about a certain topic, but here I am, following through after writing in my previous entry that my next post would be about a certain topic, namely my newest accessory. Last Monday, my physiotherapist suggested that we go outside … Continue reading Walker Talk
It's been several months since my second surgery and its ensuing complications, which included some left-sided weakness, and despite my many efforts, I haven't yet managed to convince my medical professionals that I'm ready to completely ditch the cane that I started using while in the hospital. Believe me, I've tried. With impressive persistence, too. … Continue reading Cane Game: Getting My Mobility On, Feeling Stuff
One of the feelings I hate most is the one that keeps nagging at you when you've made a plan that you know that you shouldn't keep but don't want to cancel given that doing so would entail conceding that you're not as recovered as you'd like to think that you are. As a purely … Continue reading The “Right Thing” Is Hard to Do: Cancelling Plans, Looking Forward
As April trudges steadily onward, bringing with it the promise of, um, May, warmer days are becoming increasingly frequent (even in Ontario, where eighteen-degree highs continue to alternate with seven-degree ones¹). I usually welcome spring and all that it represents with open arms, eager to be able to more comfortably spend time outdoors racking up … Continue reading Leaving the Neighbourhood and Other Things I’m Still Not Doing Much: Attempts at Gratitude
After a scary incident a few nights ago, my husband and I are finally in the process of doing what we've said that we would for the past I-don't-know-how-many months/years: fortifying the exit from our apartment with a high-tech (to me, at least) door alarm and with a low-tech but extra-tall baby gate. These provisions … Continue reading Fortify the Home, Contain a Wanderer: How to Sleep Better at Night
I’ve come to see Purple Day as an opportunity to spread epilepsy awareness, partially by reflecting on my personal epilepsy-related triumphs, challenges, etc. In all three of these senses—triumphs, challenges, and etc.—this year has been, I’d say, my most interesting yet. Since it’s Purple Day tomorrow (edit: actually the day after tomorrow, from the perspective … Continue reading Obligatory Purple Day Post: Epilepsy Awareness, Positivity, and a Years-Old Purple Jell-O Jiggler
Well, here I am again, in an all-too-familiar position, and one that I half-thought that I had left in the past: recovering from a seizure-caused concussion, my third—if my almost-entirely-unreliable memory serves me correctly—of the year. I'm trying not to be annoyed at how preventable this seems; I am, after all, supposed to be in … Continue reading Fireside Reflections on My Latest Concussion, on Making Choices, on Plain Pitas, Etc.
De Morbo Sacro: Life and/with Epilepsy 