Who Will See Me?

Outside information is always refreshing. But in the Gord Hanson world, there was always a danger of imploding on himself. A small one bedroom apartment on the six floor kept him away from the outside world. Always inside, and by himself, was comfortable but at the end of each day he felt tired. Any new information only came via computer. He didn’t get mail - all his bills came in his email. He ordered food in. He had a complete gym full of equipment that he used religiously every day. He seldom went out to do laundry. Who was going to see him anyway? When he ran out of clothes, he took the back stairs down to the laundry room. A thick sci-fi book with him, he kept his head down to read, hoping no one would come in and bother him.

A knock on his door startled him. He had to buzz people in, they couldn’t just walk up and knock on his door. But there it was - a tiny knock. If he hadn’t been walking by the door, he wouldn’t have heard it. Cautious and curious, he looked through the peephole and could barely see the top of a little blonde head. Making sure the chain was on, he opened his door just a crack. “Hi, mister. My name is Bobby. I live in the next suite. We’re new here and just moved in last weekend. I go to school online. My mom and dad decided to keep me home but I’m bored. They had to go to work and I don’t have anyone to talk to. If I go out on our balcony, would you come out on yours? I’m not supposed to talk to strangers, but then we wouldn’t be strangers.” Gord hesitated, looked up and down the hall and said “Ok.”

~~~~~

Gord and Bobby met everyday after that, at two o’clock sharp. They played games on their computers, Gord helped Bobby with his homework, Bobby told Gord about the outside world. When his parents took him to a park or a beach, Bobby live streamed a video to his friend’s sixth floor apartment. Later they talked about being outside, the sun on the water, the bird’s nests in good climbing trees and walking on the grass. One day, Gord asked Bobby “Do you ever have picnics?” Bobby had gotten used to his friend’s strange ways so wasn’t weirded out by his question. “Sure. Do you want to go on a picnic with us sometime?” Gord was quiet for a long time and said “Yes. Ask your parents if it’s ok and tell me.”

~~~~~

That night, Gord did his laundry.

“Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? 

Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?

~ T.S.Eliot, The Rock

Salt Spring Island She Shed Tour 2018 - #6

Our next discovery was a very neat and compact She Shed with a lovely window facing the artist’s home. The many fine tools and cubby holes filled with beads, gems and fine wires for this fine and detailed work were within easy reach in this 10 x 10 structure. Her finished, and very attractive pieces of jewelry - earrings, necklaces and bracelets - were on display behind her work space. The tiny She Shed, built by the artist and her husband, was constructed with as many recycled materials as possible. The welcoming little front porch was perfect for a bit of relaxation and ease. 

“A thing of beauty is a joy forever.”

~ John Keats, Endymion, A poetic Romance

My only contact information for this jewelry crafting artist is her name: Charlene Beaudette - Saltspring Island

Fundraising event for: Saltspring Women Opposed to Violence and Abuse

Treasuring the Hunt - or Not

Entering a book store there are often shelves, tables and maybe even stacks of puzzles. Puzzles in book form, in jigsaw form, in tactile Rubik's cube like form, Pick-Up-Sticks and Board games of strategy and word. I’ve played many of them but definitely not all of them. But there is one puzzle that I never anticipated that I would have to play - no playing, no pensions! So this is a Public Service announcement to anyone - which is most of us - applying at anytime of their life for a earned, paid for pension. Keep any document with dates all the way back to when you were born. I’m not kidding! Any kind of life change, including a change of province, country, marital or employment status.

When managing money, it is always wise to get clear identification from any person asking for a portion of that money. However, how many of us save every scrap of paper, and in an organized fashion, that has come into our hands over our life times. I had the good fortune to work in Texas for eleven years from 1988 to 1999. So, in the last several weeks I have been locating documentation that will prove that to said pension organizations. 

Beginning towards the end of May this year, I started on the trail of all the required details. In previous blog posts, I wrote about a Paper Life and Personal Archaeology. My files were strewn on every available service, except my sofa and my bed. As the weeks have gone on, these unorganized piles of folders and papers, while colourful, had become so much overwhelming clutter. This week, I have stacked up the folders. I’ve made three specific folders for each of the pensions I am applying for, including a separate folder for other information necessary to all three. My dining room table is clear - almost. Discovery of clarity out of chaos has rewarded me with a calm not felt for a long time.

When the puzzle pieces are all back in the box, or in this case documents in labelled folders, then this great, exhaustive puzzle becomes manageable. One document at a time, one phone call a day (or maybe three) and keep all the pieces in the box. When one critical piece is missing, and for any good puzzle, that will happen, find another one that fits - thus the phone calls. To Kelowna, to Lubbock, Tx, to Regina and within Victoria. So keep all your documents and file them away where you can find them: dates and places and status kept safely as part of one’s ID documentation. If you aren’t a fan of puzzles this is really important for you!

“Not every puzzle is intended to be solved. Some are in place 

to test your limits. Others are, in fact, not puzzles at all…..”

~ Vera Nazarian,  The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

Book Review - Silent Spring by Rachel Carson

I finished reading this highly acclaimed book a couple of weeks ago, but the information will stay with me for the rest of my life. I’ll not remember each detail, but will remember the all encompassing lesson in it’s text. Three words summarize this marvellous reading: Respect our environment. And we humans are at the end of the food chain. Keeping our food sources healthy, beginning with the land is our responsibility. These are the messages that Rachel Carson penned in Silent Spring

Published in 1962, much of the information is dated for that time, but the deep concerns about our environment remain the same, and now include the issues of genetic modification. 

I’m not suggesting that only the trees and grass, birds and bees, or even ants and spiders are at stake. Our very lives are at stake. However, not today or even tomorrow but with a gradual untraceable demise. Sound frightening?  Sound impossible?  Sci-fi?

As I read this small but very dense volume I had all of these wonderings.  From chemical sprays on lawns and fields into the food that we eat, the food that the worms and birds eat, into our bodies, we create our own vulnerabilities. In minute amounts that become concentrated with time, our vulnerabilities grow. Although much progress has been made to reverse the effects of the chemicals used, to stop the use of many chemicals, to develop organic farming there is still much change needed. The change is required at individual, scientific and in the field of research.

To wake up in the morning without the birdsong of robins or wrens, the cry of the gulls and crows, the buzz of hummingbird wing seems impossible. To go through one day without seeing spider webs in the sun and wind, bees in sunflowers and roses seems outlandish. To step outside at night and not hear any night birds in the deep quiet, seems far too lonely. And without our insects and birds there will also be no sunflowers and roses. These are the warnings that Rachel Carson presented in a very interesting, yet research based manner.

Will I read this book again? Maybe. Silent Spring will definitely stay on my bookshelf as a piece of history and a reminder that my small patch of earth, the plants I grow and the tiny community of life within, deserve my care and attention.

“This is an era of specialists, each of whom sees his own problem 

and is unaware of or intolerant of the larger frame into which it fits.”

~ Rachel Carson

Title: Silent Spring
Author:  Rachel Carson
Publisher: Fawcett World Library
Publication Date: 1962 (no ISBN on my issue)
Format:  Paperback
From Amazon books (newer reprints):
ISBN-13: 004-6442249065
ISBN-10: 0618249060
Type:  Fiction

Brighter Still

When one is lying on a gurney~ given instructions not to move and that if coughing or sneezing creeps up: say STOP.
Uppers arms tucked snug and close to your torso
A cheerful, focussed physician in surgical scrubs and mask by your side preparing a sterile field around one eye ~
eye and eyelid earlier numbed with local anaesthetic
A thin, translucent drape, sticky side down, placed gently across your face
The too close sight of hard metal instruments ~ tiny, but hard and metal ~ unsettling.
Information about the next procedure is questionable reassurance.
Bright lights illuminate the glistening orb taped wide open
Trust floods the room brighter than the operating room lights

“Sometimes we must yield control to others 

and accept our vulnerability so we can be healed.”

~ Kathy Magliato,  Healing Hearts: A Memoir of a Female Heart Surgeon

Advancement

Newspapers
silently blare headlines inspired by news of the day
content whispered in columns of small font
information put out to the world.
good news tucked in safe places
newspapers divided into News, Sports and Weather

Radio news inspired by ‘hot topics’
headlines stated clearly and calmly, with just a touch of emotion.
content ‘to come later’……
good news shared after disasters.
ordered division of News, Sports and Weather

Television presentations inspired by 
headlines spoken clearly into the camera
make-up and wardrobe at the ready
content accompanied by seconds long camera shots
directors divide the set into News, Sports and Weather

Finally ~ the Internet
websites chop up the careful order
news channels, Sports channels, Weather channels and Social Media
for content just click on each link.
good news or tragedy, trauma or more good news - your choice.

“The Internet is probably the most important 

technological advancement of my lifetime. Its 

strength lies in its open architecture and its ability 

to allow a framework where all voices can be heard.”

~ Adam Savage

Research vs Daily Practice

Epilepsy is not at the top of the list for research dollars. Scrolling through the internet, there is research being done, mostly about neurobiology - the brain and it’s workings - and the genetics of epilepsy. I’m not certain of the specifics regarding the effects of active epilepsy on health care dollars, employment costs, the education system and in general someone’s home life. These issues would include the effects on the caregiver, if that is required, and details like care giver burnout, daycare, and respite beds. Then, there are dietary and medication requirements to be factored in to all these details.  

Home life can become extremely compromised, depending on the severity of the epilepsy, if there is more than one family member with this condition, how treatable are the conditions and the age of the individual with epilepsy. The two demographics that show the highest rates of epilepsy are children, and further, a significant amount (at least 14%) of people over age sixty five.

I have never been very interested in doing research, but interested in the results of research especially when it pertains to myself. I have benefited from the research that developed Phenytoin (Dilantin), phenobarbitol, ElectroEncephalograms (EEG) and the medical education my physicians have obtained. My form of epilepsy, idiopathic and temporal lobe, is pretty basic and I live a pretty good life - independently.

The more complex any health care condition is, the more complex the research must be. Increased complexity of this neurological condition means that there is more labour intensive daily care required at home,  at school, and in the community.

Another question that I raise is - Which must come first? Where should the dollars be spent? Which health condition needs to be addressed first. Epilepsy, this hidden disease with it’s attendant stigma, is just not at the front of the line and may even get pushed back occasionally.

Another issue that relates to research, and yes I am grateful for what I have, is that research results do not trickle down very quickly - if at all - to the individuals and families that require the knowledge to care for themselves or their loved ones.

We each must take care of our epilepsy on a daily basis, regardless of all the issues I have just raised.  And many times individuals and families do it based on limited knowledge, the knowledge of physicians and plain old fashioned common sense.

Addendum: August, 2024 - An added problem has arisen since 2013 - It is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain a family physician, a neurologist, and/or an epileptoligist depending on one's location in the country of residence.

“Science is simply common sense at it’s best, that is

rigidly accurate in observation, and merciless to fallacy in logic.”

~ Thomas Henry Huxley

Author's note:

Contact the BC Epilepsy Society on line for contact information, provincially and locally.

This information still accurate:

Canadian resources: canadianepilepsyalliance.org

                                 https://www.epilepsy.ca

United States resource: www.epilepsyfoundation.org

This information, links and phone numbers no longer valid.

Resource (practical) here in Victoria

Victoria Epilepsy & Parkinson’s Centre

813 Darwin Avenue

Victoria BC V8X 2X7

Phone:  250-475-6677

Fax:  250-475-6619

Email:  help@vepc.bc.ca

Web:  www.vepc.bc.ca

Letting Go of Epilepsy

How does one let go of the fear of something that resides inside some tiny part of your brain that cannot be seen without our present day technology?

How does one let go of all the behaviours that might come along with that ‘something’ or the stigma that is still, unfortunately, far too prevalent?

How does one let go of the loved one that has epilepsy?

watching that person try to navigate a world they may not understand.

witnessing seizures that could mean certain death - in an instant.

And what if that person is a vulnerable child - or maybe even infant?

I don’t know that I have an answer to those questions.

As an adult, when I have witnessed a tonic/clonic seizure, I have been in a health care setting with policies, protocols and people to help me to support and assist my patient through the seizure.

Only once, as a child of about ten, 

did I see my brother have his first tonic/clonic seizure.

My feelings - that I remember?

Confusion, frightened.

But dad was there to take care of things.

It was new to our family, and occurred many years ago when there was scant education about what to do when someone has any kind of a seizure.

How does anyone let go of epilepsy? 

Learning about types of seizures and what to do, 

can help and may just define your place in bad, or maybe just uncomfortable, situations.............

“Let go of certainty. The opposite isn’t uncertainty. It’s openness, curiosity and a willingness to embrace paradox, rather than choose up sides. The ultimate challenge is to accept ourselves exactly as we are, 

but never stop trying to learn and grow.”

~ Tony Schwartz

Provincial Resources:

www.skepilepsyinc.com

www.epilepsymatters.com/english/alberta.html

www.epilepsymatters.com/english/saskatchewan.html

www.manitobaepilepsy.org/