illness

What a Lost Passport Taught Me About What’s Really Important

I write this while sitting on the couch in a Residence Inn outside of Washington, DC watching a Soprano Rerun and eating bad Chinese food.

  This is not where I’m supposed to be. I’m supposed to be at a beautiful resort in Cancun with my husband, our three sons, one son’s fiancee, and one son’s “I hope-she’ll-eventually-be-the-fiancee” girlfriend celebrating my 50th birthday.

I decided to do this trip and bring the tribe along because this family is the best thing I’ve ever done. I  could think of nothing better to celebrate  my half century mark than giving a gift to the people I love most in the world to thank them for the gift they’ve given me.

Then last evening, while pulling everything together for the trip, I couldn’t find my passport. I’d used it to renew my driver’s license last week, and as ID at the hotel where we stayed for Christmas. And now it was gone.

We tore the house apart. Nothing. The hotel couldn’t find it. It had vanished. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so powerless in my life.

The kids and husband left early this morning for Mexico. And I tried as hard as … Continue Reading

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cancer cancer drug healthcare system; illness

Getting Sick–Not for Me

I don’t do well with pain. I learned that lesson all-too-well during the birth of my first son, when, after 10  hours of labor jump-started by a pitocin drip I finally got an epidural. Nothing–and I mean nothing–has ever felt as good as the ebbing of that pain. I relearned the lesson during the birth of the second son, this time determined to go natural all the way, when, after a few hours, I told the doula to “shut up” and ordered my husband to hunt down the anesthesiologist and “Get me an epidural–NOW!” He listens well.

By the time the third son was born, I had the drill down pat. I was admitted to the hospital to be induced again but this time, as soon as the IV was hooked up and before the first labor pain hit, I had the anesthesiologist in the room putting in the epidural. It was a completely painless birth–and a lot of fun.

My issues with pain extend to my issues with being sick. I simply do not like not feeling well. I’ve been very lucky and extremely blessed in my life–the most serious thing I’ve ever had wrong with me was strep … Continue Reading

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ear infection illness pain