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
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
... 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 …
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
I had my follow-up at the osteoporosis clinic this morning to find out the results of the tests ordered the last time and to be told the doctor's recommendations for next steps. (This meant, of course, that I was flipping out last night, at least on the inside, and briefly considered rescheduling. In the end, … Continue reading Osteoporawesome: Good News at the Osteoporosis Clinic
This is the first September in as long as I care to remember that I'm not returning to school, whether as a student or a teacher or both (besides a few years ago, when I was on a medical leave of absence, but that hardly counts). Granted, the primary reason that I'm not among the … Continue reading September “Back to School” Reflections on Everything Staying the Same
My husband and I landed in Prince Edward Island last Saturday, and he flew back to Toronto a few days ago; I'm staying on an extra week to spend time with my dad and grandparents (and various other PEI friends and loved ones). The period that the two of us were here together with the … Continue reading Temporary Islanders
