At very long last, my new wheelchair arrived on Thursday. It’s a thing of beauty. More importantly, it’s mine. Not on loan from the medical supply company. Fitted for me, with everything tightened up where it ought to be. Smooth and shiny (for now, anyway). Ready for the accessories I’ll inevitably buy to make it … Continue reading New Wheels, Gotta Roll
I like to tell myself that everyone has those “yeah right, medical professionals, quit the hyperbole and lemme do what I’m gonna do” moments. Aren’t I, after all, the expert on my own body? (History would suggest otherwise, in my case, but I’ll conveniently brush over that part.) Don’t hold me back! I’m regrowing a … Continue reading The Flip Side of a Flop
As soon as I heard myself say it, I burst into the kind of self-aware laughter that’s been coming to me frequently and spontaneously as of late. I’d been obsessing about something I did a little compulsively (all of this in a very OCD manner, of course), and, as I am wont to do, I … Continue reading “Should I Be …”
My body and brain must miss the recreational swimming I enjoyed before I had epilepsy. Three of the last four nights, I’ve woken up in the wee hours drenched in sweat. I mean, drenched. Through-the-sheets, through-the-duvet-cover-and-the-duvet, stringy-hair drenched. Gross and uncomfortable? Yes. Disconcerting? Also a yes. I’m not particularly worried that these four-in-the-morning swimfests are … Continue reading Sleep or Swim?
After an up-and-down spring and a spotty early summer, Toronto’s now in full-blown heat mode. Weather-warning, too-hot-to-be-outside-without-feeling-a-little-nauseated heat. I used to love luxuriating under the sun. Being uncomfortably warm was my preferred state: I felt a certain affinity toward camels, salamanders, and, of course, the mighty kangaroo rat. I inwardly rolled my eyes when people … Continue reading Heat
I’m the first to admit that I’m pretty bad when it comes to remembering and remembering to care about my wedding anniversary. It’s inevitably around Canada Day—July 1—when it occurs to me that I got married the weekend between July 1 and July 4. Then comes the part where I try to remember whether the … Continue reading MVP
A few weeks ago, I started going to a physiotherapist around the corner from our apartment. I hadn’t had any physiotherapy since leaving the hospital, and I’d begun to decompensate while waiting for PT through homecare and/or an outpatient musculoskeletal rehabilitation program I’d been referred to. When it had become evident that I needed and … Continue reading Let’s Get Physio, Physio
A feature of our new apartment that we’ve been appreciating more and more, especially as the weather’s turned for the better and we’ve developed cabin fever, is its balcony. When I first got home, I let the balcony become a symbol it didn’t need to be. My husband and my dad understandably hadn’t noticed while … Continue reading Growing
Late last week, a friend gave me one of the finest gifts I’ve ever received: free reign to use her label makers. She must have underestimated how much I love putting labels on stuff. It has to be one of the most satisfying tasks known to humankind; how rewarding it is, after all, to almost … Continue reading Labelling
Well, today’s been a day. Yesterday was too, for that matter. Please note that this post makes no attempt to incorporate humorous anecdotes and won’t end with some nugget of wisdom and/or with a playful splash of optimism. Indeed, it isn’t optimistic at all. Quite the opposite: the unapologetically negative pity party that I’m about … Continue reading No Silver Linings, No Playbook
De Morbo Sacro: Life and/with Epilepsy 