Eyebrows and Epilepsy: Things That Are Only Tangentially Related

I got my eyebrows waxed yesterday. Lest you think that I've decided to experiment with beauty blogging, let me immediately assure you that this particular eyebrow-maintenance experience is, indeed, relevant to the theme of my blog. You can also rest assured that my brows are now "on fleek," as the kids of today, or maybe … Continue reading Eyebrows and Epilepsy: Things That Are Only Tangentially Related →

Same-Day Appointment with My Epileptologist: Success/the Beginning of a Multi-Month Pregabalin Breakup

I woke up yesterday morning to two missed calls and a voicemail from an "unknown" number. I've been doing this chronic-illness thing long enough to know that 95% of the time, if you're a heavy user of the health-care system, an unknown caller means a medical office, usually one in a hospital. Sure enough, it … Continue reading Same-Day Appointment with My Epileptologist: Success/the Beginning of a Multi-Month Pregabalin Breakup →

Wheel-Trans: How to Trans-form Your Life Using Public Transportation Alone

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 →

Cane Game: Getting My Mobility On, Feeling Stuff

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 →

Leaving the Neighbourhood and Other Things I’m Still Not Doing Much: Attempts at Gratitude

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 →

Splish Splash: Bathtime Safety, or Why You Should Invest in a Bath Chair

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 →

Obligatory Purple Day Post: Epilepsy Awareness, Positivity, and a Years-Old Purple Jell-O Jiggler

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 →

The LEGO Fairy

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 →

Feel the Fear and …

... let them cut into your brain anyway? My attitude towards the procedure I'm supposed to have sometime over the next month or two (I'm still waiting for a date, which is its own kind of stressful) seems to have entered a new phase that I'll call "full-blown fear." Or, I guess, fear mixed with … Continue reading Feel the Fear and … →

Helmet-Toque Negotiations and the Search for (the Last Remaining Shreds of) Dignity

My husband and I have an ongoing narrative/discussion/negotiation/argument regarding how often I should wear my helmet-toque, the headgear about which I'm sure I've written in a past post (that I won't bother digging up for laziness reasons). His, probably correct, opinion: I should don it almost all the time. My fuelled-by-a-desire-to-preserve-the-last-shreds-of-dignity-in-a-life-currently-coloured-by-loss-of-control one: helmet-toque as protective … Continue reading Helmet-Toque Negotiations and the Search for (the Last Remaining Shreds of) Dignity →