For the first time in my life, I’m putting myself first. As a Spoonie, mother, and wife, it’s very difficult. I feel guilty about it—a lot. I feel guilty asking my husband to watch the kids, so I can lie down when a migraine is setting off bombs inside my skull. I feel guilty letting … Continue reading
Category Archives: Living fully
Why It Matters
It had been a few weeks since I’d been feeling a persistent sadness weighing on my heart. Unable to write and barely getting the essentials done, I found myself watching Hallmark movies. They’re like a chocolate so sweet, it makes your teeth hurt. When even When Calls the Heart failed to cheer me up, I … Continue reading
Super Spoonie Mom!
Super Spoonie Mom. Yeah, that’s me. I have chronic pain and a fatigue that has never gone away. I’m also the mother of a two-year-old who, I swear, is nuclear powered. Most kids, when they have run around for three hours, crash and sleep. NOT THIS CHILD. Nope. She keeps going. If I could only … Continue reading
Doing a Perfect Job with an Imperfect Brain
Yikes. This post is not easy for me to write because it could cause potential clients to question my competence. So, let me state up front that I’m good at my day job and I have witnesses who’ll back me up! I am an editor. I take manuscripts from indie authors and sort out word … Continue reading
All the Parts of Me
I don’t know about you, but many doctors have told me that besides my having myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), I’m in good health. My primary care doctor prescribes drugs for general pain, muscle spasms, severe headaches, allergic eyes, dry eyes, breathing difficulties, dry mucus membranes, and add to that anti-inflammatory meds and the list goes on. … Continue reading
I’m Not F**king Brave
Just to set the record straight, I’m not brave, okay? I live with spastic cerebral palsy (CP) and relapse-and-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS). I can’t count the number of people who have called me brave. I always smile and nod when they say this, but the truth is that bravery has nothing to do with it. … Continue reading
When Illness Becomes a Dragon
I feel that the image of an unruly beast of fierce proportions best conveys just what place incapacitating chronic illness occupies in one’s life. This beastie is like a tantrum-prone toddler that keeps you in a state of constant vigilance for fear it will bring you down so low, getting back up might take longer … Continue reading
I’ve Zipped Through Gynecological Surgery
Okay, Susan, cut to the chase. For those of you who read my last post, Today’s Letter is “C”, you might remember that I’ve been spending way, way, way too much time visiting the gynecological oncologist and was heading in for a complete hysterectomy because there were some suspicious growths, particularly a neoplasm on my … Continue reading
Morituri te Salutant
My brother in law died a couple of weeks ago, after a long battle with a brain tumour. It took him by inches, eventually leaving him so weak that it was all he could do to get out of bed and into a chair. The time was his choice, for we have medically assisted dying … Continue reading