2024 is here!
Every year, without fail, the beginning of the year always has, and always will (till am alive) start with a happy note – and that would be my birthday. This year I turned 42. My brain twin (JEN) is also born this month (16th) and turned 54 (or thereabouts, I think). We celebrated it together thanks to CHIRS – they have a unique arrangement to get all members to come and enjoy a new culture cuisine every month. I so happened, that they chose to celebrate PONGAL, a harvest festival from South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. We went out to eat a group lunch together at Karaikudi Chettinaad Restaurant in nearby suburb of Scarborough. I ate a plate of Vada and sambhar, chutney and red Podi powder (in oil). I chose to accompany it with Indian masala tea. My friends mostly chose mango lassi along with a meat/veg dish with naan/roti. Needless to say, its a fun hangout with the gang always!
The month hasn’t ended yet, but I have already had a good meeting with a PHD candidate from York University where I had volunteered to participate. The experience was great. They liked my style of presenting my brain injury. I gave them a unique analogy which goes something like this … imagine there is a robber roaming in your community. Lets name him “klebsiella pneumonia”. Every day, all day, he keeps trying to break into any house. ideally, looking for an open door, or window or something unexpected. Today happened to be his lucky day, the day I caught my bacterial meningitis back in Jun/18.
My slack management of diabetes, had likely left my immunity compromised. Klebsiella, who is omnipresent and always keeps trying to break the blood brain barrier, got lucky and managed to enter the villa that was my brain. It ran up the stairs in search of the electric mains, and went cukoo to cut almost any and every wiring!
As a result of this disaster, I see myself as a part-blind, part-deaf, smell blind, taste blind, and largely whatever defines a mentally disabled person for you. No LT memory, terrible ST memory, constant fatigue, sleep issues, balance issues and insulin dependent diabetic person!
The month hasn’t ended yet, but I have already had a good meeting with a PHD candidate from York University where I had volunteered to participate. The experience was great. They liked my style of presenting my brain injury. I gave them a unique analogy which goes something like this … imagine there is a robber roaming in your community. Lets name him “klebsiella pneumonia”. Every day, all day, he keeps trying to break into any house. ideally, looking for an open door, or window or something unexpected. Today happened to be his lucky day, the day I caught my bacterial meningitis back in Jun/18.
My slack management of diabetes, had likely left my immunity compromised. Klebsiella, who is omnipresent and always keeps trying to break the blood brain barrier, got lucky and managed to enter the villa that was my brain. It ran up the stairs in search of the electric mains, and went cukoo to cut almost any and every wiring!
As a result of this disaster, I see myself as a part-blind, part-deaf, smell blind, taste blind, and largely whatever defines a mentally disabled person for you. No LT memory, terrible ST memory, constant fatigue, sleep issues, balance issues and insulin dependent diabetic person!