It’s a Great Day to Have a Device Implanted in My Chest! (Oh, and Happy Halloween, Everyone.)

The time's upon us: it's Halloween, yes, but it's also the day a VNS device will be surgically implanted in my chest. My husband and I are, in fact, at the hospital waiting for my operating time. Though I was a nervous wreck yesterday and over the weekend, I'm now (relatively) calm about the whole … Continue reading It’s a Great Day to Have a Device Implanted in My Chest! (Oh, and Happy Halloween, Everyone.) →

Post-Vacation, Pre-Op Business/Busyness

I got home from a trip with my father last Tuesday afternoon. Our vacation was lovely: a perfect mix of relaxing, spending time with family, and being distracted from my upcoming surgery. Though I had a few seizures, we had a safety plan in place, and it worked exactly as it was supposed to. The … Continue reading Post-Vacation, Pre-Op Business/Busyness →

Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving!

As the self-explanatory title of this blog post makes clear, it's Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada. Though 2017 has been difficult in ways that are sometimes hard for me to articulate, my Year of the Disobedient Brain has, in many respects, allowed me to better recognize my privilege and focus on the things for which … Continue reading Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving! →

It’s the End of September, and I’m Not Freaking Out

Over the course of two days, it's abruptly turned from sundress-and-Birkenstocks weather to sweater-and-sneakers season. The change hasn't been entirely unwelcome; there's only so much late-September sweating I can do before agonizing over global warming starts to interfere with my enjoyment of the sunshine. It has, however, resulted in some interesting-to-me (almost definitely boring-to-you) reflections. … Continue reading It’s the End of September, and I’m Not Freaking Out →

Belated Update: Another Visit to 5B (Yeah, I Know)

I'm a little late—what else is new?—with this, but I thought I'd write a bit about my latest visit to the neuro ward, a.k.a. my home away from home this year. First: I've been out for a while now, so yay! In fact, with the medication adjustment done in hospital, I'm super stable. In fact, … Continue reading Belated Update: Another Visit to 5B (Yeah, I Know) →

Becoming a Cyborg/Making Decisions/Drawing Questionable Pictures

I met with my epileptologist last Wednesday to follow up on the hospitalizations that seem to have plagued me this summer. Each of these mini vacays (ha…) from my everyday life has resulted in a heavier medication load than ever before, and since I've been deemed ineligible for resective surgery (for now, at least), I'm … Continue reading Becoming a Cyborg/Making Decisions/Drawing Questionable Pictures →

Rebreaking the Proverbial Ice

It's been a while. (I'm sorry.) I have three major updates, as well as many minor ones, but I haven't been able to get myself to open a tab, write a few paragraphs, and click "publish" in over what—two weeks?—so I thought I'd start with something short and sweetish to break the proverbial ice and … Continue reading Rebreaking the Proverbial Ice →

Forty-Five Seconds

Forty-five seconds. A blip, and likely an inevitable one, after which I rolled over and went to sleep. I'm making a real effort to convince myself that forty-five seconds mean nothing, but they keep tossing around my head, unwilling to simply be what they were—one complex partial seizure among dozens I've had this calendar year. … Continue reading Forty-Five Seconds →

What’s Been Happening (ICU, Etc.)

This will be short: my brain still isn’t working at top capacity, and I don’t want to look back at my blog posts at some future date and be embarrassed by an entry with an abundance of typos and scattered thoughts. At the same time, I feel it’s important to provide an update since lots … Continue reading What’s Been Happening (ICU, Etc.) →

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 →