My April 2013 Follow-up Appointment

About 2 weeks ago, I had a follow-up neurologist appointment.  Below is an outbrief of that meeting, with the usual provision of questions asked and answers given during the appointment.

“10 Signs That You Might Be Losing It: 1) You tend to forget things … 6) You tend to forget things…”

Well, Dave Barry, I’m not turning 50 (yet!), but I hear ya! In fact, a neuro-psychologist, no less, is in the process of determining if, and by how much, I am indeed “losing it”.  I took a cognitive examination a month or so ago, and the results are in…

Year 2013 First Trimester Review: Travel Resolution

The government agency for which I work holds its employees responsible for at least two performance reviews per year:  one is the “real” review, which forms the basis of promotions and awards. The other is a 6-month check up to see if the employee is on-track for meeting the performance goals that were established between the employee and his/her management in the previous year.  While I really detest/dread these performance reviews — they take up an inordinate amount of preparation time  –  I have to admit that they do serve a useful purpose: they hold us measurably accountable for the things we promised we’d deliver.  In that same spirit, I’ve now had 4 months to dig into my 2013 New Year Resolutions:  What’s my score so far?

A Not-Quite Ohio Spring

Spring arrived at my California home no later than the third week of January, but apparently the season has been playing hide-and-seek with a large swath of the mid-West.  I visited family in the Cincinnati, OH area over Easter weekend, and was greeted with colder air than I’ve gotten accustomed to!  Despite the fact that snow was falling on April 1st (some kind of cruel April Fool’s joke being played by Mother Nature?), the last days of March were truly lovely, and made for perfect hiking weather.

Coming Out Of the [Medicine] Closet

Each of us, at some time in our life, is confronted with the dilemma that brought me a lot of anxiety this  past week:  telling a loved one some news that we know will likely cause them discomfort, in the least stressful way we can manage.  Whether the topic is revealing sexual orientation,  a marriage that has inexplicably fallen apart, a drug addiction, an unplanned pregnancy, or (as in my case) a potentially debilitating disease, all we really want is to get the confrontation over with as quickly as possible, hopefully get our loved ones’ support, and then move on.  These moments of revelation are significant; they serve as the event that defines a “before” and “after” phase of life.  Once the news is told, we know that going back to the “before” life is forever impossible.

Homeward bound!

In the morning, I will be “going home” to Ohio.  I used to think that I was the only self-sufficient, home-owning, bone-fide adult who still refers to visiting with my parents as “going home”.  But I’ve since learned that I am not alone.

To Sleep, Perchance to Dream: Finale

The results from the sleep test that I took last month are in.  The test experience was a contradictory mix of painless medieval torture.  After all the electrodes were super-glued to my scalp and legs, two tight belts were placed around my abdomen and upper chest (under armpits between breast and chin), a mask-like device with silicone appendages that go up the nose was strapped to my face, and an oxygen-sensor was clipped to and securely taped to my pointer finger, I was ready to catch some zzzz’s. But here was the problem: