Yesterday morning, I had a routine checkup with my epileptologist. In anticipation of an event that's historically been by and large unremarkable, with a doctor who's never been anything but kind to me, I naturally spent Monday night—OK, most of the last week—obsessing about the various ways in which it might go wrong. I won't … Continue reading Checkup
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
Sometime last week, I augmented my collection of bathroom safety devices with the most impressive addition to date: a "Deluxe Aluminum Shower Chair with Back" (pictured below). I already owned a bath bench (notably backless), as well as a grab bar, which was recommended to me by the occupational therapist I saw last year at the … Continue reading Splish Splash: Bathtime Safety, or Why You Should Invest in a Bath Chair
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
I recently mentioned in a post on Facebook, I think it was, that a nurse in the neurology ward suggested that assembling LEGO sets of around 500 pieces would be useful in my recovery process since I was (and still am, though to a lesser extent) having trouble with fine motor skills. This is when … Continue reading The LEGO Fairy
First, I'm having a lot of trouble writing these days—locating words, typing, using simple grammar without immense effort, etc. (my personal hell, if you know me well enough), so please, please, be gentle with me if you find mistakes in this post: I've decided that it's fair to blame it on the seven brain medications … Continue reading And the Saga Continues
I write this in a moment of clarity, which, these days, are few and far between. But they exist, and for that, I am grateful. (Please notice and appreciate my attempt to practice positive thinking. The current arguably lame, but very affective, thing I repeat to myself is "go with the flow." So yeah. But … Continue reading A Quick Update That I’d Rather Not Have to Make
Yesterday was momentous in that it marked the first day post-surgeries that I was allowed to wash my hair. It was glorious. It was also strange. Until this past fall, my hair stretched halfway to my waist. Then my surgery was initially scheduled, and I got a series of cuts to prepare myself for the … Continue reading Washing My (Stubbly, Pathetic) Hair: When Mundane Tasks Become Your New Excitement
I’ve been meaning to write an update for days—weeks?—now. However, for the first chunk of this hospital stay, I didn’t feel well enough to do anything but sleep and pity myself, and now that I’m a little more functional, lying around all the time is making me lazy. And so I figured I better devote … Continue reading A Quick, Disjointed, and Incomplete Update: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
De Morbo Sacro: Life and/with Epilepsy 