It was only around 5 p.m. last Tuesday night that I remembered that I was required to fast the morning of the PET scan that I had scheduled for noon the next day. I know plenty of people who're able to happily live without food for hours after waking up and manage to do so while … Continue reading Hanxiety, Medical Souvenir/Halloween Costume, PET, New Pet
I interrupt your Valentine's Day festivities to inform you, on the off chance that you weren't already aware, that Saint Valentine is the patron saint of epilepsy. (OK, one of the patron saints of epilepsy.) So, using my convoluted reasoning, that basically makes today, Valentine's Day, Epilepsy Day—"Patron Saint of Epilepsy Day" is a bit … Continue reading Happy Patron Saint of Epilepsy Day!
My doctor called me on Friday to communicate the results of my recent bone scan. "The news isn't good," she said, somewhat dramatically, I thought, though my perception may have been affected by the fact that I picked up the phone while in the middle of an especially emotional scene in an episode of Nashville, my … Continue reading When Body Meets Soul
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
I was going to post this last Wednesday upon landing, but the airline lost my bag, and I temporarily lost the ability to think about anything but the fact that my beloved stuffed bear, Bear, was potentially gone forever or about the fact that the whole ordeal was really drawn-out and frustrating from start to … Continue reading Flashback … Sunday? (I Was on a Plane!)
One of the words that I apply to myself most liberally is "lazy." (As I wrote that sentence, I began fantasizing about supermarket cake spread thickly with vanilla icing—the fact that I so easily and quickly equate myself with cheap dessert covered with grainy frosting, incidentally my favourite variety, perhaps bears further analysis. The comparison … Continue reading Grainy Icing on the Proverbial Grocery-Store Cake: Reflections on Laziness (Part I)
Today is my husband's and my four-year wedding anniversary, which started with a treatment that required me (read: us) to arrive at the hospital by 6:45 a.m. for a brain-traumatizing procedure. (Private-message me for deets, if you’re interested. I will also use this procedure as an excuse for typos/poor writing/etc. etc., so I apologize in … Continue reading Four Years
Two weeks ago, four days after I had been discharged the first time, I was readmitted to the hospital. The reasons for this return are complicated, meaning that I don't feel like getting into them right now, but suffice it to say that my reentry into the world of twenty-four-seven medical supervision was swift, unexpected, … Continue reading Readmission/Return
Over six weeks later, and I've finally been discharged from the hospital. Over six weeks: that's a month and a half of my life. And the saga's not over yet. Not really. Health problems of this nature aren't (surprise surprise) miraculously resolved when you're handed your discharge papers and head home. I've got a ways … Continue reading Looking Back, Moving Forward
Friday morning, I was awoken around six by the voice of a middle-aged woman. I opened one eye just enough to see that she was sporting delightfully over-the-top scrubs, the kind with a cartoon motif that assistants in pediatric dental offices wear. "I'm from the lab, sweetie; I just need to draw some blood." Of course you are. Of course you do. After looking … Continue reading Pin Cushion: Reflections on Patient Passivity
De Morbo Sacro: Life and/with Epilepsy 