My husband and I got back to Ontario a few hours ago after spending the long weekend at my parents' house in BC. We woke up before 5 a.m. We're both incredibly tired and grumpy. Happy Thanksgiving! Every time I leave Victoria (or NC), I'm reminded how hard it is to be so far from … Continue reading Giving Thanks
Last Friday, I flew from Toronto to Seattle to visit two of my favourite people for a few days before visiting more of my favourite people in Victoria. You know that feeling of nervous anticipation when you’re boarding a plane and waiting to see who’ll be your seat mates for the next several hours? Well, … Continue reading Swissair
One night last week, I had just finished brushing my teeth and was heading to bed when I stopped dead in my tracks, paralyzed by fear. “What’s wrong?” my husband asked. “I feel a SENSE OF IMPENDING DOOM,” I replied, in exactly those words. As per my recent explanation/tirade, the period after a tonic-clonic seizure can … Continue reading Sense of Impending Doom
As I write this, it’s 6:20 a.m. I realize that many—most?—members of the workforce are awake now, but being on a leave of absence, I have no incentive to be up at this hour. And hey, this is a medical leave of absence, and my seizure frequency increases when I don’t get enough sleep. (Seriously, … Continue reading Bad Neighbour
A few weeks after I went to the doctor following my first seizure, I got a letter from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation revoking my learner's permit. My expired learner’s permit. Brutal, right? For multiple obvious and valid reasons, the inability to drive is one of the biggest practical and social issues faced by people … Continue reading Drive to Drive
One of the worst parts of the morning after a “big seizure” (technical term) is being too brain dead—figuratively, of course—to think properly, hence the uncreative title of this post. On the plus side, however, I can blame any typos/inelegant sentence constructions/etc. on my neurons’ latest riot. Anyway, I decided that it was high time … Continue reading What It’s Like to Be Postictal (in My Own Very Personal Experience)
For the first time in as long as I can remember, I haven't been looking forward to Labour Day. Seeing as I seamlessly transitioned from taking to instructing courses, I’ve never lost that fall “going back to school” excitement/anticipation despite being in a year-round doctoral program. I love the rhythms and structure of the academic … Continue reading (Not Going) Back to School
I apologize if you find the title at all insensitive. I tried to resist—I really did—but alas: I'm a sucker for a pun. If it's any comfort, all shaking to which I refer in this post is expressly my own. We’re flying to North Carolina on Saturday for a week in the Outer Banks with … Continue reading Shakes on a Plane
As almost everyone with access to media of any kind knows by now, Robin Williams committed suicide yesterday morning. While he was relatively open about his battle with mental illness, a cross-section of the many, many reactions to his death on my Facebook feed—mostly sadness and shock—suggests that few people were aware that he faced … Continue reading Why It’s Important, and Will Be Important, to Think about Robin Williams’ Death
Mildly exciting news! On the advice of a friend who's much tech-savvier than I am, I finally decided to create a De Morbo Sacro Facebook page. Thrilling, right?? Here's the link. (There's also a widget—I think that's the technical term?—in the footer of this blog. I'm learning.) If you feel like helping me spread epilepsy awareness via a … Continue reading Facebook Page
De Morbo Sacro: Life and/with Epilepsy 