Gentle with her
Maggie was my yoga teacher the summer I was sickest. Young and healthy, kind without being showy about it, she is a memorable character from that time of trying to hold together what was falling apart....
View ArticleInsurance and the common good
I had been working for my current employer for five years, happily paying for my portion of my insurance costs while lucky enough to not need more than a yearly exam, when I became suddenly ill. Out of...
View ArticleWhat grows in winter
On a frigid Friday night about three years ago, I surrendered. I spent the evening pacing the subterranean studio apartment where I lived alone, clutching my hair and praying Hail Mary. The pain I had...
View ArticleIn between miracles
On the April day that I went to the emergency room for the first time, I returned home to learn that my cousin and godmother had died after a bewildering health emergency. It had only been a few years...
View ArticleIgnatius and me in Barcelona: Companionship, reliance and faith
He was afraid that if he had a companion with him, he would lose some of that supreme trust in God, deflecting it onto his companion. – Pedro de Ribadeneira, writing of Ignatius’s travel from Manresa...
View ArticleIt’s OK to be sick
When I got sick, it was public. I was late and out sick often, I couldn’t be as social as I had been before, I lost a lot of weight and later a lot of hair. I know some people criticized me for how...
View ArticleBefore and After
A recent photo. When my illness was at its worst, a few months before surgery put my Crohn’s into remission, close to half of my hair fell out. This is common when your body goes through trauma (women...
View ArticleEnough as you are, in every way
Eight years ago this week I was diagnosed with a chronic illness after decades of perfect health. For about a year I only had periodic instances of debilitating pain, but with time Crohn’s disease took...
View ArticleWhen we know what’s coming
The other night, unexpectedly, a flash of pain in my stomach made me bolt up in bed. An old hand at GI issues, I knew the pain was further “upstream” than previous intestinal pain; and the combination...
View ArticlePost-op
It has been seven years since I had major surgery after a long illness, surgery that put me on a path to healing. Usually on this anniversary I re-share certain pictures on social media, remembering...
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