Avoidance Therapy

May 10, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

I just want to sleep. Situational, my therapist calls this type of depression. Saw my family doctor this week, and she confirmed that the skin condition could be cancer. At best, it is a rare condition that will need specialist care. It is both itchy and painful, but there can be no treatment until the […]

Nature’s Balm

May 7, 2019.Reading time 4 minutes.

Questions flood in as evening sets, the initial shock of hearing the ‘c’ word now wearing off. I sleep little, spending way too much time with Dr. Google, without any satisfaction. Ric is scheduled to go into town a bit later, so I take the car early and head to a new trail in our […]

And Then There Was Hope

April 27, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

Three years ago today, I dragged myself out of bed, and with the aid of my walker (and likely a wheelchair), I paid a visit to a local doctor/ practitioner of Functional Medicine. Getting out in those days was a huge ordeal, and typically entailed a backlash that would last weeks. I was that sick. […]

Numbers and Chronic Illness

April 18, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

It’s been 5 years since illness knocked me off my feet. Tuesday, I visited the doctor with a list of 12 symptoms to discuss. She had 4 things to cover with me. We spent 1 hour and she took 2 samples, and set me up with 1 specialist and 3 more tests. She gave me […]

Shake Ups

January 5, 2019.Reading time 4 minutes.

The new year grabbed me in a choke hold and hog-tied me before I had a chance to even think about what it might bring. It started with a text that my mother was in hospital, followed by a harried searching of flights and anxious speculating about how I’ll get home. Me, who hasn’t ventured […]

Shrivelled

December 4, 2018.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Wrung out, yet alive –Autumn berries cling to life,and I resonate. (For Cee’s FOTD. Day 2 of travel, and I am feeling the effects.)

Appearances

November 15, 2018.Reading time 2 minutes.

Testing social waters – that cherished state of interaction – prone to revealing too much have been homebound, studying life without a facilitator, now attempting to penetrate invisibility gathering the salvageable bits – minimal fragments of a once whole woman, reaching out, reconnecting, reception mixed much has passed me by – no amount of homework […]

Photo a Week: Bridges

November 3, 2018.Reading time less than 1 minute.

The gap between the life I’d envisioned and this current reality is widening… I need a bridge – not a short, low one, but a large, expansive bridge to carry all my wishes, to facilitate movement of passing ideals, allow for traffic flow. Or a bridge to slow me down, dialled in to the sun’s […]

Gathering

October 10, 2018.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Squirrels, squirrels everywhere, chirping: “Get ready; be prepared”, hoarding their finds with relish treetop leaping with added zest. The geese are gathering too – like all good Canadians – making plans for the winter weighing the options for flight. Clouds gather to mark day’s end and the influx of autumn weather – and I […]

Confessions of Losses and Gains

June 26, 2018.Reading time 2 minutes.

Illness comes at a cost, yet even as the losses add up, there are gains. With the onset of summer, I recall leisurely hours spent golfing with my husband, or friends – a pastime we so loved. My clubs now take up residence elsewhere, these muscles unfit for the exertion required. My tennis racquet sits […]