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
I'll start with a disclaimer: for obvious reasons, my memories of the event that's the topic of this post are kind of spotty, so I'm relying on witnesses (i.e., my husband) for much of what makes up the following. We're going to have to go ahead and assume that I wasn't being trolled when the … Continue reading Sunday Night in the ER
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
After a scary incident a few nights ago, my husband and I are finally in the process of doing what we've said that we would for the past I-don't-know-how-many months/years: fortifying the exit from our apartment with a high-tech (to me, at least) door alarm and with a low-tech but extra-tall baby gate. These provisions … Continue reading Fortify the Home, Contain a Wanderer: How to Sleep Better at Night
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
Last Friday—yes, I'm a little behind on my posts—a physiotherapist came to our apartment to help me learn how to be less terrified of going down the stairs and do simple exercises in order to become a little less deconditioned after two months of doing almost nothing but chillaxin' (i.e., lying in a hospital bed). … Continue reading One Step at a Time (Really): First Visit from the Physiotherapist
De Morbo Sacro: Life and/with Epilepsy 