The night before I traveled to Bethesda, I went to see my acupuncturist. She is an incredible, Scottish woman with multiple sclerosis. Incidentally she is also a talented painter and has a wonderful mind. I asked her for a last-minute appointment because when I woke up that day, the left side of my neck was…
I am up at 6:15 today to get the taxi at 6:45 to the Clinical Center. I arrive at the hospital before much is going on there. First stop is phlebotomy. I am taken back immediately into one of the phlebotomist cubicles. She informs me that they only need a urine sample. I don’t know…
I want to address a couple of comments I’ve received since I started sharing my blog. These couple of comments have been something along the lines of, “It seems like you are doing really well with everything.” When I’ve read those, I appreciate the sentiment/encouragement but I want to wave my arms frantically from the…
I’m sitting on the beach with the sun on my face and the salty breeze flowing through my hair. It’s such a blessing that I get to live here, where in October I can enjoy this warm, temperate weather. I remember last winter considering whether I would have been able to tolerate this part of…
In March I set a goal to journal daily for 30 days. It was just for me. I had zero intention of sharing the contents of my journal with posterity. I think I just wanted to hear the sound of my own voice. I wanted to better understand myself. I decided to do it first…
I just finished a short relationship with someone. It was never meant to be serious but it was more substantial than anything I’ve had since I separated from my someday-ex 20 months ago. This micro relationship was like an accelerated course. Each week, I felt I was uncovering some truth about myself, not because this…
Years ago I was traveling in Guatemala and visited Tikal. It’s an amazing Mayan ruin site, the one with pyramids topped with elaborate roof combs reaching up from the jungle canopy. This was my second visit to this site. It was toward the end of the day. We had already explored all of the more-restored…
I’m coming out of the dark today. Sitting on the beach, typing to you, dear readers, with the waves crashing before me and the sun on my face, salt in my hair. I’m thinking about what it takes to rise as I try to do rise AGAIN. The last two days have been dark. I spend…
I am a psychiatric PA. A lot of people get confused by that title. I am a physician assistant specialized in psychiatry. I do the same job as a psychiatrist for much less money, and I’d like to think with a little more style! I diagnose and treat mental illness, primarily with medication. I have…
Yesterday I got back in the water for the first time in two weeks. Pretty much every time I walk into the ocean with my surfboard, I feel intimidated. Yesterday I paused on the sand and did some yoga stretches before paddling out (probably should have done more as my neck and shoulders are a…