This is a picture of MyKid fooling around in my down winter coat. I've had this coat since before MyKid was born. In fact, as I've often related to him, when he was a baby I carried him around in a BabyBjorn while wearing this coat.
MyKid is now 11. Seeing him in this coat, I suddenly realized I've lived my entire adult life at the height of an 11-year old boy.
It's a sobering thought. I could riff for pages on what it's like to be the shortest kid in the class, the shortest woman in an office, and then the shortest oldest woman in an office. What I can't do, however, is tell you how many times people haven't seen me in a line, or in the subway, because I disappear behind much taller people.
I think it's part of the reason I felt so at home in Jerusalem. My height was just not that unusual there. (I also feel comfy on the Canal Street subway station in Manhattan, for the same reason.)
I guess this is just a time that I'm taking stock and trying to figure out where I will fit in in the work world, when I finally return.
One last note -- if you're of a certain age, or you ever visited/lived in the Catskills, you must see Ang Lee's movie, Taking Woodstock. It's a joy. Lee is such a talented director; he totally "got" the time and the place.
You'll be awash in nostalgia and cry for our loss of innocence. Sorry, let me restate that. What I meant by that pathetically inadequate and hopelessly trite sentence was: the movie brilliantly represents a time and a mood that some of you might recognize. Watching it, I felt sad for how innocent we were then and for the youthful optimism we lost, and how we lost it.
I remember listening to older people speak about things and wonder what they might have experienced in life that enabled them to understand life so much better than I did. What had made the world so much more transparent for them? Then, I seemed to understand so little of what was happening around me; I was clueless about how people operate and think.
Experience and T-I-M-E changed all that.
Hi, I was diagnosed with BOOP May 2009 and had relapse and back in the hospital again Dec. 2009. My hair started falling out before I got sick or knew I was sick I had fevers every 5-10 days for about 2 months before going in hospital. I am weaning off Prednisone now on 15mg but my hair started falling out again when decreased to 20mg my doctor acts like he has never heard of anyone else with this with their hair falling out and I thought it was interesting when I saw that yours was too - when I was my hair or run my hands through hair lots of strands - no clumps. How is you hair now. I run out of energy now on Prednisone -scared to see what I will be like without any.
ReplyDeleteIf you can, check with a dermatologist, they specialize in hair loss. In my case, as you experienced, it wasn't clumps but, apparently, hair breakage -- lots of it. My dermatologist confirmed it was the prednisone. It's really not surprising that so powerful a drug also damages hair. In my case, this hair loss/breakage continued for about 5-6 months. With best wishes for continued recovery.
ReplyDeleteI am on my second bout of BOOP. Very disappointing. I think I am feeling better, but the prednisone is really taking another toll on me.
ReplyDeleteAnyone out there for support?
Judy in Toronto
Hi Judy,
ReplyDeletePrednisone, it's really a case of the cure being almost worse than the disease. I'm sorry you have BOOP again. Check with the doctor and Dr. Epler's website to see if you are getting a sufficient dose of prednisone. It's horrible using it, but it should work. I can tell you that once you are off it, the swellings go down and you return to normal fairly quickly. With best wishes for speedy recovery.
I was on 100 mg for a week, then 50...tomorrow I go down to 40. The dr said that the BOOP has receded 80%...but that this time I have to be on prednisone longer. The BOOP should not have come back. She has put me on anti anxiety drugs and metformin for diabetes....otherwise I do not have to take diabetic drugs.
ReplyDeleteI am just so sad that I have to get so weak again. I am glad it is not worse...please do not get me wrong. Thank you for writing...I needed it.
Judy
Are you saying you're taking 100 mg a day everyday for a week?
ReplyDeleteYes....two weeks ago, I started with 100mg per day. After a week, I went down to 50 mg per day. Tomorrow, I start 40 mg per day....and go down 10 per week. I will be on 20 mg per day I think for a while.
ReplyDeleteHopefully, the extreme reactions that I am getting will slow down.
Last year, I became so weak that I had to use a walker. My vitamins were a mess, so this time I am trying to avoid such huge deficiencies.
I had BOOP in 2012 for the whole year. My hair was falling out too. I also had very hard time with prednisone, high blood pressure and pulse rates along with panic attacks and of course weight gain. I developed osteoporosis in my hips but other than that I made a full recovery. I have no idea why I got this. Does anyone know the cause?
ReplyDelete