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Life
Last week started out pretty well, but the last half of the week, both the weather and my health went downhill (probably not a coincidence, as stormy, overcast weather can make my chronic illness worse). I had several medical appointments, including my annual visit with my primary care doctor, who was thrilled to hear that the new medication is helping. I also had a follow-up phone appointment with my specialist in NYC, who told me I can try adjusting the dose of the medication to see if that helps with lingering immune symptoms. And I finally managed to visit my elderly book buddy. Between her health issues and mine, I hadn't seen her since this summer, so it was great to catch up with her. These books were due in September! (Luckily, there are no late fees in the Book Buddy program.)
By Thursday, the flu-like symptoms of my immune disorder had worsened, and our skies turned dark and cloudy, and both continued through the weekend. So, we had a very restful weekend. I got some things done from the couch but tried to mostly take it easy. Yesterday, we saw some glimpses of the sun and blue sky finally. But we're heading to Rochester, NY, my hometown, for Thanksgiving, so we need to get used to the gloomy clouds!
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| The clouds broke up finally yesterday. |
And today, it is sunny, with bright blue skies, and I'm feeling a bit better, so I took a short walk on my way to my massage therapy appointment. Sunshine and nature bring me such joy!
And, just a quick note as we approach Black Friday that my book, Finding a New Normal: Living Your Best Life with Chronic Illness, is on sale all week, for just $4.99 for the e-book, and under $10 for the paperback, until Tuesday, December 2. The e-book is available at that price on all platforms, from all sources, and in all countries. The paperback is also widely available, including from indie bookstores, libraries, and all online stores, though the paperback sale price is only on Amazon (I can't control the price elsewhere).
If you have a friend or family member struggling with a chronic medical condition, it makes a great gift!
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The Big 6-0 Book Tag - This was a really fun one with some great questions, created by my friend who is celebrating her 60th birthday, and since I just turned 60 as well, I joined the fun! The short video includes some of my all-time favorite books.
Weekly Reading Update: Outstanding Nonfiction - My brief weekly summary of what I am reading and listening to, some really outstanding nonfiction!
My First 5 Weeks Microdosing a GLP-1 Medication for ME/CFS: It's Helping! - I spent much of the week finishing and editing (lots of editing!) this month-long chronic illness vlog that follows my first 5 weeks on an experimental treatment, microdosing tirzepatide (Zepbound), to treat immune disorders like mine (and autoimmnune diseases, too). In the vlog, you see the ups, the downs, what my doctors said, and my conclusions after 5 weeks (I think it's helping, but I still have symptoms).
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I finished reading my neighborhood book group's pick for next month, Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen by Jose Antonio Vargas, a memoir. Jose was only twelve years old when his mother put him on a plane in the Philippines to visit his grandparents in California. They, and their siblings, are all naturalized American citizens, and Jose doesn't realize at first that he will be staying in Mountain View and living with his grandparents from now on. And he doesn't understand, until four years later, that he's undocumented. He writes about this abrupt transition as he adjusted to life and school in America, as well as how he managed to go to college and get jobs, with a lot of help from mentors. The author is a Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist who is still, in his late 30's, undocumented, caught in the labyrinth of the U.S. immigration system as are so many millions of others, unable to apply for citizenship and unable to leave. This book was absolutely stunning and eye-opening for me. It is such an important story to hear, given the state of our nation and its immigration system right now. Here's a 6-minute NBC News interview with Vargas, and here's the author's TED Talk.
Now, I am reading Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer, a book I've been hearing rave reviews of for several years. The author, a member of the indigenous Potawatomi Nation, is also a botanist, so she weaves together (see what I did there?) scientific information about plants, stories from her own life, and indigenous stories, myths, and uses for plants. It's beautifully written, entertaining, and engrossing. I'm only about 80 pages in so far, but I'm enjoying it very much, especially since she has lived her whole life in Upstate New York, close to where I'm from. She also has a TED Talk.
I am still listening to We Will Be Jaguars: A Memoir of My People by Nemonte Nenquimo and Mitch Anderson, her husband, a book that is absolutely blowing me away so far. The author grew up in an indigenous tribe in the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador, one of the last to be contacted by Christian missionaries in the 1950's. Her life and that of her entire village begins to change, first through the missionaries and then through the oil company leaders and employees the missionaries introduce to them. The men of the tribe are enticed to help cut down trees and clear land for airstrips and to reach the oil below. The description of her idyllic village life and the chilling effects of the missionaries (who refer to them as savages) at the beginning is eye-opening and moving, and the suffering and abuses Nemonte endures at their hands are horrifying. As an adult, she teaches for a while but eventually is drawn back to her home in the jungle. She ends up becoming a leader for her people, uniting the various tribes against the oil companies. Wow, what a powerful story. It's engrossing, angering, poignant, and so important and is excellent on audio. And, yes, she did a TED Talk, too!
My husband, Ken, is still reading one of my favorite books from Big Book Summer this year, Bridge by Lauren Beukes. This is a novel about alternate realities, one of my favorite topics. The main character, Bridget, is grieving after her mother's death. Her mom struggled with epilepsy and recurring brain cancer since the age of 14, She used to bring Bridge, when she was just a child, along with her on some very strange adventures. Using something her mom called the "dreamworm," the two would temporarily inhabit other lives, where they were each themselves but different, and everything around them was different. Since then, Bridge's therapist has convinced her those were just dreams or fantasies, but while cleaning out her mom's house, Bridge discovers the dreamworm and her mother's journals, and she begins to realize there really are other realities that she can access. Bridge gets the idea that her mother is still alive in some other reality, so she goes hopping through parallel universes (and into other Bridgets, leaving them very confused and upset). This book was so good! My husband is enjoying it so far.
I finally remembered to ask our son, 31, what he's been reading, and it turns out, I hadn't missed anything after all! He said he hadn't read anything at all since our weekend together in the lake house (rare for him), but he was getting ready to start World's Edge by David Hair, book 2 in The Tethered Citadel series. He enjoyed book 1, Map's Edge, a few months ago. And I get to see him this weekend!
And I'm including another family member in this week's update, our younger son's girlfriend (ironically, she's with the non-reader son, while the avid reader son's girlfriend doesn't read much for fun, though she's still in school). Anyway, they came for dinner this week, and she told me that based on my advice, she's been listening to The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger on audio. This is my all-time favorite book, so I am thrilled that she's enjoying it so far.
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What are you and your family reading this week?
