Category Archives: Parenting

Everything That I Understand

If this blog were a work of fiction, I would have introduced a car crash or a home invasion by now, to keep things dynamic for the readers. Or maybe I would just tell some stories about the arguments that Rob and I have around our ALS lives together. There’s nothing fictional about our fights. But there’s probably nothing truly interesting, either. Every married couple argues, just maybe not about the same stuff. I’m pretty sure that’s a direct quote from Tolstoy.

It’s not.

Let me put it this way. If love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage, which we know they do because of the wildly successful relationship modeled on the TV show Married with Children, then ALS and marriage go together like a horse and something a horse really doesn’t like, such as a staircase or a flesh-eating horse disease. Read More>

|Categories: Life, Parenting, Relationships | Tags: , , | Permalink

Melting Brain

Sinus infection. Day 6. Incomplete thoughts. Lots of wall staring, and, look, there’s an Amazon box in the corner. Ohmygod, I just figured out the Amazon logo. Just now. The A is pointing to the Z. A-Z. I can’t believe I just noticed that. I am an idiot.

I managed to hang in there for Scarlett’s 6th birthday last week, and then. The sore throat, the stuffy head, my body just let go. I estimate that I get sick like this once a month now. My immune system cracking like an eggshell, exposing my many vulnerabilities. If it turns out that I’m made of nothing but oozing egg yolk, then the only thing to do is chug bright orange DayQuil, with its poisoned candy taste.

Perhaps I’m being a tad dramatic about this.

For days, I’ve been trying to ignore my symptoms, thinking maybe I can will this infection away. Start small, and then use my evasion superpowers against the ALS. Alas, that’s harder to ignore. There have been lots of ALS meetings lately. An ALS TDI Ambassadors call, an Every 90 Minutes advisory board meeting, an ALSA advisory panel call. Everyone is busy, lots going on. Lalala. Still no cure.

But here’s something cool. Read More>

|Categories: Life, Meditation, Parenting | Tags: , , | Permalink

Stress Balls

I’m sick of thinking about ALS this week. I feel like I live in a land of meaningless press releases and articles promising breakthroughs that never come. It’s hard to stay positive, easy to get cynical. And from there it’s a slippery slope to downright depression. I don’t want to go to that place.

So let’s talk about Otto. He is 10 months old and still not neutered, because there has been some discrepancy between the information we received from our vet to chop him at six months and Rob’s research indicating that waiting longer would be better for the shape of Otto’s head or something like that. I mostly stay out of the conversation, because the presence of dog testicles doesn’t really affect my life on a daily basis.

That is, until we were trying to plan our latest trip to Lake Tahoe, and no one would take our horny, humping, aggressive maniac. Otto went to two different “auditions” at small home-based kennels that claimed to be happy to care for an unfixed puppy. After both attempts, he was gently invited to find somewhere else to stay. One woman said, “He’s a beautiful dog…and he knows it.” Read More>

|Categories: Life, Parenting, Relationships | Tags: , | Permalink