I've now entered a new stage of my ketogenic-diet-for-seizure-control experiment. More accurately, since this is a joint effort in which he cooks the food and I eat it, my husband and I have made the transition to a stricter and, with any luck, more effective phase of (my) ketoing for (my) medical purposes. It was … Continue reading Cooperative Ketoing
As Canada locks down to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Toronto—the city in which I live—has taken bold, necessary steps to “flatten the curve.” Elementary and secondary schools are closed. Public libraries are closed. Most retail outlets are closed. Universities have transitioned to online learning. Lots of other stuff has happened in the gap between … Continue reading A COVID-19 Post to Add to the Millions in Your Inbox (Please Read!)
Yes, I mean news news, not news of the personal-and-complainy variety. Yesterday I ran across this article about five-year-old Emma, who's the first patient in Canada to have the most recently released VNS model implanted. When she was seven months old, Emma was diagnosed with the seizure disorder infantile spasms (IS); her parents are hosting an … Continue reading Some Positive VNS News in the News
This video and article about a young girl (Pepper) with epilepsy whose parents were told that she couldn't ride an accessible GO Transit car popped up in my social media feeds a few days ago. As you might imagine, it made me so, so angry. In the interests of encouraging you to click this link so … Continue reading Epilepsy in the News: GO Transit, Questions of (in)Accessibility, and an Angry Blogger
In my last post, I promised that the next one would be about ice cream. Since I’m a woman of my word, here are ten paragraphs about ice cream. Count 'em. I began writing this post as I greet each new day: by making a list. Since along with being a woman of my word … Continue reading Some Frozen Treats I’ve Eaten This Summer, Most of Which Were Delicious
You might (rightfully) wonder why I decided to write about a lost object and a newfound friend at the City of Toronto's Solid Waste Management Services in a blog that's ostensibly about living with chronic illness(es). I asked myself the same, or at least a related, question. OK, questions—plural—since my brain isn't good at stopping … Continue reading Lost Engagement Ring, New Hero at Waste Management: A Happily Ever After
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
I’m home! A neurology resident stopped by my room yesterday and told me that since I was doing better than expected, I would be discharged and my medication titration would continue on an outpatient basis. And so the wires on my head were taken off, prescriptions were called in to my pharmacy, a discharge summary … Continue reading Home
And now, back to a post that I was working on before I was distracted by less-pleasant events. As the title of this post gives away, I recently had my first post–brain injury night away from the security of my husband and apartment in the form of a Saturday–Sunday trip to London, Ontario. I had … Continue reading First Post-ABI Night Away from Home: Major Anxiety, Major Success
Wheel-Trans is the door-to-door accessible option of Toronto's public transportation system for those who qualify for the service. While it used to be only for people with physical disabilities, it recently "open[ed] up [its] eligibility criteria to include any person with a disability that prevents a person from taking conventional transit for all or part … Continue reading Wheel-Trans: How to Trans-form Your Life Using Public Transportation Alone
De Morbo Sacro: Life and/with Epilepsy 