Who likes getting sick? I really don't and avoid germs whenever I can. Of course, it's the thought of getting sick that makes me feel the worst. You know, when you know it's coming and there's not much you can do about it. Once the malady hits, though, and I'm forced to stay in bed I'm usually a good patient: not too demanding and just that right touch of neediness.
July 31, 2011
It wasn’t this bad but it felt like it was. Last Sunday at 11 a.m. I was attacked by a swarm of wasps. More on that in a minute. But first, what good is a trauma like this if…
December 14, 2008
The Diving Bell and the Brain Tumor
From his vantage point: sewing Jean-Dominique Bauby’s eye shut after his stroke. Still from the film The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Today is my mother’s birthday: more accurately, the 87th anniversary of her birth. She died in 1971…
May 3, 2008
My Root Canal on Twitter It’s all Melanie’s fault. In March I received an email from her extolling the virtues of twitter, that micro-blogging, naval-gazing, Web 2.0 service. I knew about twitter but was totally uninterested in subscribing to…
December 9, 2007
Ouch! Oooouch! or Romancing the Stone
Nurse… Nuurse… Nuuuurse… Fellow ER Patient Moaning in Pain It began as a pressure in my lower back. Instinctively, I knew what it was. I broke out in a cold sweat knowing that over the next few days I…
November 21, 2006
Top: Blue Cross’s backlighted sign campaign in DC’s Metro. Bottom: Detail. Click to see an enlargement of the eye. In Washington this time of the year when friends stop you on the street to wish you “Good tidings for…
September 2, 2006
A souvenir from my recent vacation decapitated me! Before beginning the procedure Deb, the dental technician initiated some preliminary chit-chat. “What brings you here today?” she asked. Offering up my porcelain crown I said, “It came off.” “Crowns don’t…
August 7, 2006
Stay away from sledgehammers. One minute I was minding my own business and the next I had a fever and chills. I’m now going on Day 5 of this routine. Ok Go’s Here We Go Again cured me. Depressing as…
June 3, 2006
You Can Judge a Doctor by His Magazines
First impressions are important. I discovered this copy of Ferrets magazine in my doctor’s waiting room. A visit with a new doctor always brings some hesitation. It’s like a first date. Will you like him/her? Will he be kind…
May 15, 2004
She looks a little tentative. I focus on her eyes, looking for clues as to why she is here. I notice she is clutching a small stuffed animal in her hands. We are both waiting. Hollywood Squares is blaring…
October 20, 2003
We got home the other night and there was a message on our answering machine: This is [garbled] from “Dr. X’s” office. Your insurance company has approved your prescription for Vioxx. You can call your pharmacy to arrange for…
March 15, 2003
A Pain in Any Case: A Parable for the Ides of March
Over the course of the last month, the pain in my lily-livered liberal all-American heart has only been exceeded by the pain in my #12 all-American tooth. Each conveyed a kind of dull, background ache as I carried on my…
December 1, 2002
Remembering Those We’ve Lost to AIDS
December 1 is World AIDS Day. Today I’m taking some time to remember those we’ve lost to this disease, those who are suffering now, and those who are working hard to eradicate it. During this season of miracles, take a…
February 14, 2002
Zen and the Economy of My Words
I’ve got laryngitis. The rest of my body feels fine. In fact, my throat and voice box feel completely normal. It’s only when I attempt to speak that I even realize I’ve got a problem. I’m revisiting puberty as my…
February 3, 2002
A Fairly Odd Viral Convergence
We are all sick. All four of us! Fevers, congestion, the whole bit. We have never all been sick at the same time. This is Viral Convergence! I’m emailing Gareth at Jargon Watch immediately about this! It’s bad enough when…
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