It’s me! It’s been (practically) forever! Don’t get too excited: I’m just dropping in to wish you a happy end to 2018 and beginning to 2019. Since I keep meaning to compose a long catch-up/excuse post and then collapsing under the pressure of having so much to catch up on and not knowing how much … Continue reading It’s Almost 2019! Time for a Disjointed Post.
I'm currently prescribed five anticonvulsants. Five. Some are better than others, but each is its own special flower/beast, in terms of side-effect profile. That said, I'm grateful that I've found a combination of medications that's kept me out of the hospital since the summer.* Among the drugs currently inhabiting my blister pack is phenytoin (Dilantin), … Continue reading Dilantin, ER, Vomit: A(nother) Scattered Blog Post
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
Well, what was likely the inevitable happened: I landed myself back in hospital, in the same unit in which I spent most of the first two months of 2017. Let's hope that I’ve gotten it out of my system now. On Tuesday evening, I had a series of five tonic-clonic seizures at home in the … Continue reading Back to 5B
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
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
