Battles of The Mind: A Memoir
Tag: Seizures
Recovery
Happy New Year—one month late. Whether you live with epilepsy, pnes, or both, and no matter the frequency of your seizures, the recovery period isn’t just regaining the physical balance, returning to your baseline as neurologists state, it also encompasses the mind. That emotional aspect of ‘not again’ what did I do wrong? How could… Continue reading Recovery
the art of tattoo
OMG..this is so long overdue… As some of you may know, since moving to Calgary, I’ve gotten some tattoos. yes, shocking isn’t it? Don’t ask me why because I don’t know. I’m going to blame my location to the tattoo parlour, it’s only a few steps from my building. All too convenient I’ll say. But.… Continue reading the art of tattoo
The Power of Nurses
Living with a chronic illness/disease, the focus is placed on a number of things: Often times, there are elements forgotten in the day-to-day struggles, the physical and emotional effects, and access to care. For me, personally, many of these areas were missing in the early days of my epilepsy diagnosis. The lack of resources, education,… Continue reading The Power of Nurses
Setting Goals
I gave up setting goals many years ago, decades even, long before my epilepsy diagnosis, and more since my PNES was confirmed. It seemed pointless. I mean, why would I work towards something that could, would, potentially fail? Yes, that is a defeatist attitude, negative in so many ways, but is also a defense mechanism… Continue reading Setting Goals
Boundaries and limits
After receiving my epilepsy diagnosis, I spiralled into a state of shock, disbelief, fear, and , yes, self pity. Emotions I’ve spent decades burying rushed to the surface. Sadness, anger, grief, and even guilt. It’s taken a long winding road full of hills and valleys, moving along narrow rocky paths inches from the edge of… Continue reading Boundaries and limits
The Art of Perfection (or is it a curse?)
The art of perfection takes years to perfect, yes pun intended. My lessons began at an early age and growing up in the 60s and 70s, we didn’t mince words. The world was seen in shades, not colour. I recall old adages relating to ‘doing things right’ ‘haste makes waste’ and ‘if you want something… Continue reading The Art of Perfection (or is it a curse?)
April in Review
Wow. Another month down. 😮 Here in Calgary, our April ‘showers’ were colder, heavier, and whiter than normal but the temperatures remained relatively mild. I mean, it is spring, isn’t it? Or at least, it’s supposed to be. In any case, the white stuff came, piled up a bit, melted, came again, melted, and is… Continue reading April in Review
Introspection
{Long post warning} A thought occurred to me this morning, one of those AH-HA moments where the realization of something that’s bounced around in the crevices of your mind now appears as Johnny did in The Shinning. In the early days since my epilepsy diagnosis, I journalled writing down every thought, fear, frustration, and anything… Continue reading Introspection
Here We go Again…
The mind is a mysterious place. I felt good. Life was moving along. The new support group for the seizure unit given the green light. Another laser surgery to treat my glaucoma booked, my twice weekly volunteer shifts at the hospital going well, the only box not ticked was my sleep. I’d managed a mere… Continue reading Here We go Again…