To be perfectly honest, I’m not really looking forward to rehashing 2011. It pretty much sucked the big one. Anyway, here goes…
It was the year when issues that didn’t have to do with my health blew up:
It was the year I explored issues involving diagnosis, ageism, race, disclosure, physician-assisted suicide, and other topics:
It was the year I came to you “in person” via vlog:
It was the year of fucked up, antiquated physical therapy:
It was the year of the guest bloggers:
It was also the year that I had my heart broken in the worst way by the man I loved and thought I was going to marry.
It was the year of (false) hope, and trying to understand illness:
It was the year that I seemed bound and determined to derail my health:
It was the year I explored my relationship with my rheum:
It was the year that proved how tied up the physical and the emotional are with one another:
It was the year of traveling with illness:
It was the year of dating a nearly continuous stream of guys who weren’t quite right:
It was the year of kickboxing:
It was the year of supremely unhelpful care providers:
And finally, it was the year of going beyond boundaries I had set in my head about treatment:
Wow, that’s a lot, isn’t it? I’m overwhelmed just looking at the list, let alone living it.
So what was good about 2011? Well my in-person and virtual friends really came through for me, and really kept me going. I feel like 2011 was the year that people had to keep sweeping me up off the floor.
I can’t really imagine 2012 being worse than 2011, unless the world comes to an end, of course. So bring it!
Happy Holidays, everyone! Catch you in 2012!
1. “Me” by Ricky Martin (NF; Because I was obsessed with him when I was younger)
*****
And if you are interested, here is a list of all the books I read in 2011:
2. “The Murder of King Tut” by James Patterson (and Martin Dugard) (NF; Because I was totally obsessed with King Tut when I was younger. Are you sensing a theme here?)
3. “Naturally Thin” by Bethenny Frankel (NF)
4. “How Can You NOT Laugh as a Time Like This?” by Carla Ulbrich (NF)*
5. “Skinny Bitch” by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin (NF)
6. “Sick Girl Speaks” by Tiffany Christensen (NF)*
7. “Slaughterhouse” by Gail A. Eisnitz (NF)
8. “How to Bake a Perfect Life” by Barbara O’Neal (F)
9. “Mennonite in a Little Black Dress” by Rhoda Janzen (NF)*
10. “The Love Goddess’ Cooking School” by Melissa Senate (F)
11. “My Sister’s Keeper” by Jodi Picoult (F)*
12. “William and Kate” by Christopher Andersen (NF)
13. “Accidentally Yours” by Susan Mallery (F)*
14. “Plain Truth” by Jodi Picoult (F)
15. “Handle With Care” by Jodi Picoult (F)*
16. “Market Rebels” by Hayagreeva Rao (NF)**
17. “Surgically Shaping Children” edited by Erik Parens (NF)**
18. “Secrets of a Jewish Mother” by Jill Zarin, Lisa Wexler, and Gloria Kamen (NF)
19. “The School of Essential Ingredients” by Erica Bauermeister (F)
20. “Julie and Julia” by Julie Powell (F)
21. “Sing You Home” by Jodi Picoult (F)*
22. “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother” by Amy Chua (NF)
23. “Tick Tock” by James Patterson (and Michael Ledwidge) (F)
(F) – Fiction
(NF) – Non-fiction
* Books specifically of interest to chronically ill readers
** Academic books/books for my research/dissertation
24. “Chocolate & Vicodin” by Jennette Fulda (NF)*
25. “Worst Case” by James Patterson (and Michael Ledwidge) (F)
26. “Signs of Life” by Natalie Taylor (NF)*
27. “Soul Surfer” by Bethany Hamilton (NF)*
28. “Destination Dissertation” by Sonja K. Foss and William Waters (NF)**
29. “See Jane Write” by Sarah Mlynowski and Farrin Jacobs (NF)
30. “The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted” by Elizabeth Berg (F)*
31. “Don’t Blink” by James Patterson (and Howard Roughan) (F)
32. “10th Anniversary” by James Patterson (and Maxine Paetro) (F)
33. “Heaven is for Real” by Todd Burpo (NF)*
34. “The Happiness Project” by Gretchen Rubin (NF)*
35. “The Bounce Back Book” by Karen Salmasnsohn (NF)*
36. “G-d Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian” by Kurt Vonnegut (F; at least, I really hope it’s fiction)*
37. “The Year of Magical Thinking” by Joan Didion (NF)*
38. “Living with Difference” by Joan Ablon (NF)**
39. “Chasing Daylight” by Eugene O’Kelly (NF)*
40. “Go Back and Be Happy” Julie Papievis (NF)*
41. “A Child Called It” by Dave Pelzer (NF)
42. “Take Me Home from the Oscars” by Christine Schwab (NF)*
43. “Now You See Her” by James Patterson (and Michael Ledwidge) (F)
44. “Sisterhood Everlasting” by Ann Brashares (F)
45. “Life, On the Line” by Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas (NF)*
46. “Crazy Girls” by Max Lance (NF)
47.“A Small Fortune” by Audrey Braun (F)
48. “Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day” by Joan Bolker (NF)**
49. “The Baby Chase” by Holly Finn (NF)*
50. “The sum of My Parts” by James Sanford (NF)*
51. “Little People In America” by Joan Ablon (NF)**
52. “In Our Hearts We Were Giants” by Yehuda Koren and Eilat Negev (NF)**
53. “Please Stop Laughing At Me” by Jodee Blanco (NF)
54. “Please Stop Laughing At Us” by Jodee Blanco (NF)
55. “The Baby Planner” by Josie Brown (F)
56. “Growing Up Small” by Kate Phifer (NF)**
57. “Alison Wonderland” by Helen Smith (F)
58. “Facebook Diaries (Volume 1)” by Brian Shell (NF)
59. “Stealing Faces” by Michael Prescott (F)
60. “Transition” by Chaz Bono (NF)
61. “He Said What?” edited by Victoria Zackheim (NF)
62. “Moonface” by Angela Balcita (NF)*
63. “How I Planned Your Wedding” by Susan Wiggs and Elizabeth Wiggs Maas (NF)
64. “The Kitchen Daughter” by Jael McHenry (F)*
65. “Find Me” by Rosie O’Donnell (NF)*
66. “Celebrity Detox” by Rosie O’Donnell (NF)
67. “There Are Things I Want You To Know About Stieg Larsson And Me” by Eva Gabrielsson (NF)
68. “The Web-Savvy Patient” by Andrew Schorr (with Mary Adam Thomas) (NF)*
69. “The Kingdom Of Childhood” by Rebecca Coleman (F)
70. “Slim To None” by Jenny Gardiner (F)
71. “The Meaning Of Matthew” by Judy Shepard (NF)
72. “Gone To Green” (1 of 4 in The Green Series) by Judy Christie (F)
73. “Goodness Gracious Green” (2 of 4 in The Green Series) by Judy Christie (F)
74. “The Glory To Green” (3 of 4 in The Green Series) by Judy Christie (F)
75. “Rally ‘Round Green” (4 of 4 in The Green Series) by Judy Christie (F)
76. “The Orchard” by Theresa Weir (NF)
77. “The Vampire Shrink” by Lynda Hilburn (F)
78. “Making Toast” by Roger Rosenblatt (NF)
79. “The Christmas Wedding” by James Patterson (F)
80. “Twilight” by Stephanie Meyer (F)
81. “Half A Life” by Darin Strauss (NF)
82. “Kill Me If You Can” by James Patterson (and Marshall Karp) (F)
83. “He’s Just Not That Into You” by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo (NF)
84. “The Patient’s Checklist” by Elizabeth Bailey (NF)*
85. “Midnight Sun” by Mary Fechter (F)
(NF) – Non-fiction
* Books specifically of interest to chronically ill readers
** Academic books/books for my research/dissertation