2010: My Year, In Books (And Other Remembrances)

“Five hundred twenty five thousand

six hundred minutes
Five hundred twenty five thousand

moments so dear

Five hundred twenty five thousand

six hundred minutes

How do you measure, measure a year”

First, I’ll start with the other remembrances, and then I will get to the books.

2010 was a year for many things:

The year of Methotrexate:

I chronicled my on again, off again love affair with the drug, in the posts:

- “The Sacrifices We Make To The Medication Gods”

- “A ‘Sick’ Day Or A ‘Typical’ Day?”

- “Running Out”

The year of Repeat Cellulitis:

- “Patient Knows Best”

The year of the Guest Blogger:

I was happy to host Sara Gorman, author of “Despite Lupus”, and Toni Bernhard, author of “How To Be Sick”:

- “Guest Blogger: Sara Gorman”

- “Guest Blogger: Toni Bernhard”

The year of the death of Support Groups:

Virtual support seems to be the beacon, as in-person support groups fizzled out:

- “Hello, Lupie!”

- “Two Years And Counting: The Insight That Comes From Illness”

- “Does Misery Really Love Company?”

The year of annoying and incompetent hospital staff and other “professionals”, and other mishaps:

  - “A Good Nurse Knows A Prick When She Sees One (And Some Nurses Are Just Pricks)”

- “Same Stuff, Different Day: Unfortunate Lessons In Disclosure”

- “Patient Relations To The Rescue! (Definitely Something To Be Thankful For)”

The year of Volunteerism:

- “Give And Let Give”

The year of My Second Hospitalization:

- “Worse Date Night Ever (And It’s All My Fault)”

And most importantly…

The year of the Boyfriend, the year of the boyfriend, and oh yeah, did I mention, the year of the boyfriend?

We’ve been dating for nearly a year now, and I couldn’t be happier! I’ve blogged a lot where he’s concerned from disclosing to living to talking about babies and everything in between:

- “Breaking My Own Rules: The Doctor Is In The House”

- “When Your Body Calls, Who Responds?”

- ‘Le Talk’

- ‘I Love You, Don’t Touch Me’

He’s briefly mentioned in passing in many posts, so I’ll leave it to you to find them all.

*****

And now on to the books…

One of my goals for 2010 was to either read all of the books on my shelves that I haven’t read, or get rid of them. Maybe that sounds stupid. But part of my more abstract goals was to get rid of excess baggage, to get rid of the things that are holding me back and/or down.

I did not end up reading all the books on my shelf, but I did set a goal to read at least 50 books, and I surpassed that.

This list includes only books that I read in the entirety. This does not include the countless articles and book chapters that I read for my research. 

Reading all these books made me realize that I need to get on writing my own, because some of the stuff out there is just plain crap.

Maybe 2011 will be the year that I write a book!

Anyway, I think the books a person reads says a lot about them. And since I do truly spend so much of my time reading, here goes. You will notice that I do tend to get on author kicks. Hopefully from my list, you'll find something worth reading in the year to come:

1. “Lip Service” by Susan Mallery (F)

2. “Straight From the Hip” by Susan Mallery (F)

3. “Hot on her Heels” by Susan Mallery (F)

4. “The Pursuit of Perfection” by Sheila M. Rothman and David J. Rothman (NF)**

5. “Mistaken Identity” by Don & Susie Van Ryn and Newell, Colleen, and Whitney Cerak with Mark Tabb (NF)

6. “As Nature Made Him” by John Colapinto (NF)

7. “Dear John” by Nicholas Sparks (F)

8. “90 Minutes in Heaven” by Don Piper (NF)

9. “Despite Lupus” by Sara Gorman (NF)*

10. “How to Write a Lot” by Paul Silvia (NF)**

11. “The Art of Being a Healing Presence” by James E. Miller and Susan C. Cutshall (NF)*

12. “Time Management from the Inside Out” by Julie Morgenstern (NF)

13. “The Five People You Meet In Heaven” by Mitch Albom (F)

14. “For One More Day” by Mitch Albom (F)

15. “Have a Little Faith” by Mitch Albom (NF)

16. “Cancer Is a Bitch” by Gail Konop Baker (NF)*

17. “Messenger” by Jeni Stepanek (NF)*

18. “The 9th Judgment” by James Patterson (F)

19. “My Stroke of Insight” by Jill Bolte Taylor (NF)*

20. “Better” by Atul Gawande (NF)*

21. “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot (NF)* **

22. “Lift” by Kelly Corrigan (NF)

23. “The Short Book” by Zachary Kanin (NF)**

24. “In An Instant” by Lee & Bob Woodruff (NF)*

25. “The Middle Place” by Kelly Corrigan (NF)*

26. “Hornet Flight” by Ken Follett (F)

27. “Complications” by Atul Gawande (NF)*

28. “Private” by James Patterson (F)

29. “The Council of Dads” by Bruce Feiler (NF)*

30. “Short” by John Schwartz (NF)**

31. “Lupus Q & A” by Robert G. Lahita and Robert H. Phillips (NF)*

32. “As I Live and Breathe” by Jamie Weisman (NF)*

33. “The Woods” by Harlan Coben (F)

34. “The Postcard Killers” by James Patterson and Liza Marklund (F)

35. “The Innocent” by Harlan Coben (F)

36. “Julie's Story, My Life With Lupus” by Julie Miller (NF)*

37. “My (So-Called) Normal Life” by Erin Zammett (NF)*

38. “Love Story” by Erich Segal (F)

39. “The Biopolitics of Breast Cancer” by Maren Klawiter (NF)**

40. “Train Go Sorry” by Leah Hager Cohen (NF)**

41. “Deaf in America” by Carol Padden and Tom Humphries (NF)**

42. “Impure Science” by Steven Epstein (NF)**

43. ‘So What Are You Going To Do With That?’ by Susan Basalla and Maggie Debelius (NF)**

44. “Courtney’s Legacy” by George Cantor (NF; link not available)

45. “Better Than Well” by Carl Elliott (NF)**

46. “How to be Sick” by Toni Bernhard (NF)*

47. “Disarmed” by Kristin A. Goss (NF)**

48. “Flammable” by Javier Auyero and Débora Alexjandra Swistun (NF)**

49. “The Case Against Perfection” by Michael J. Sandel (NF)**

50. “Promise Me” by Nancy G. Brinker (NF)*

51. “Complete Your Dissertation or Thesis in Two Semesters or Less” by Evelyn Hunt Ogden (NF)**

52. “Normal At Any Cost” by Susan Cohen and Christine Cosgrove (NF)**

53. “Unstoppable in Stilettos” by Lauren Ruotolo (NF)

54. “Footprints of Courage” by Jan Jenkins (NF)

55. “Hoda” by Hoda Kotb (NF)*

56. “Someone Like You” by Susan Mallery (F)

57. “Falling for Gracie” by Susan Mallery (F)

58. “Into Thin Air” by Jon Krakauer (NF)

(F) – Fiction
(NF) – Non-fiction

* Books specifically of interest to chronically ill readers
** Academic books/books for my research

*****

Wishing all of my readers a very Happy New Year!

Be sure to check out my new blog/business venture: Creating Everlasting Memories (And More!).

And, of course, look for new posts in 2011!

Patients For A Moment: The Year In Review Edition

Welcome to the latest edition of the patient-centered blog carnival, Patients For A Moment. This is the last edition of 2010. Can you believe it? I can’t! Where did the time go?

For this edition, I asked readers to wax nostalgic, based on the following question I posed:

What is/are your favorite/best post(s) of 2010?

Participants had the option of submitting a post they wrote some time over the last year, or to come up with a summary piece of all of their writings from 2010.

*****

In the post, 2010 in Review: The Year of the Baby, Laurie Edwards of A Chronic Dose reflects on the past year of a high-risk pregnancy and the birth of her daughter. Laurie, we’re glad to have you back and so proud and happy of all that you have accomplished!

My Life Works Today's Maria Pfeifer anticipates her New Year’s resolution in exploring her relationship with illness, in the post, To Be, or Not To Be,.... She suggests that there is a delicate balance between illness being ignored and taking over our lives.

In the post, PFAM: 2010; the year in review, Phylor of Phylor's Blog, puts a positive spin on the past year. As she says at the end of the post, “2010 was a year of tears, but I chose to remember it best with a post of laughter.” Well said, Phylor!

Nessie, at Lipstick, perfume, and too many pills, shares the things she wishes someone had told her when she was newly diagnosed. Based on the positive response she received on the post, an open letter to you, confirmed her belief in the importance of patient blogs. I think we can all agree with that!

In one of her favorites of the year, Shweta, of the blog it's no more in my head, laments that “if diamonds are a girl’s best friend, shoes are her soul mate..... And not being able to wear nice shoes sucks so much.” Arthritis, she muses, can be such a drag, in the post, My Pretty Shoes Syndrome. Girl, I know exactly how you feel!

In Sickness and In Health's Barbara Kivowitz discusses a topic that is important for the illness experience of couples, although it is rarely talked about, in the post, The Guilt of Illness.

Kathy, of FibroDAZE, shares with us the post that she wrote for Invisible Illness Awareness Week 2010. By talking about everything she can do, helps her when she gets down about everything she can’t do, in the post, Yes I Can!.

From It's Time To Get Over How Fragile You Are, Andrea Martin shares the post, 11 Things My Life Does Not Need In 2011. She has some good ideas. What are some things your life doesn’t need in the year to come?

Rachel B, from Tales of Rachel, tackles her Fear factory. in a post about developing and overcoming her anxiety issues.

In the post, Pacemaker Activity Guidelines, Judith Westerfield, of the blog CreativitytotheMAX, faces her fear of getting a pacemaker by using blogging and humor to cope; and wrote the post, knowing that she had lived through the experience.

*****

Thanks to all of those included in this edition for sharing your best with us!

I’ve really enjoyed coordinating PFAM in 2010, and can’t wait for what’s in store for 2011!

Of course, I didn’t get a chance to finish the post I was working on for this edition of PFAM, but check back on my blog next week for my year in review post.

And please be sure to check out the Patients For A Moment blog for updates and information.

The next edition of PFAM – and the first of the New Year – will be hosted by Glass of Win on January 12, 2011.

“Patients For A Moment” Is Here December 22nd

I’ll be hosting “Patients For A Moment” on December 22nd, and I’m starting a new tradition.

The theme for this edition is: The year in review. (I hope to do this every year!)

What is/are your favorite/best blog post(s) of 2010?

You can participate in one of two ways:

1. Provide me with all of the required submission information on a post that you wrote sometime between January 1st, 2010 and now

OR

2. Write a post in which you wax nostalgic about the posts you wrote over the last year – you can check out examples I’ve done for 2008 and 2009

In other words, you don’t actually have to come up with a special post for this edition, unless you want to.

If you would like to submit a post, e-mail the following to gettingclosertomyself@gmail.com:

Your name (as it should appear)
Your blog’s name
Your post’s title
Your post’s URL

* And also for this edition, tell me why it’s your favorite/best post, if you are selecting from previously written posts.

And make sure you put “PFAM” in the subject line.

All submissions wishing to be considered should be received by 11:59 p.m. Sunday, December 19th.

A Few Of My Favorite (Illness) Things…*

In my everyday life, here are a few “everyday” things that I can’t live without:

- Cloth bags – You know, the ones you can buy just about anywhere these days. I’m accumulating quite a collection of them. But they are great because I feel they balance weight better than traditional plastic or paper bags, I can shoulder them, rather than hold them in my arthritic hands, and as a bonus, they are good for the environment.

- Cell phone with keyboard – I don’t love to text, but since it happens, I got a cell phone that has a pull out full keyboard. It’s too hard on my fingers to try and text using numbers only.

- Rubber jar grips – What a simple thing, but absolutely necessary. I pretty much can’t open any jar without assistance due to my arthritis, so these are a must for me.

- Pill holder – I have several of these, ranging from single dose holders to the weekly calendar type with several compartments for each day. It’s too hard to keep track of all the meds I take any other way.

- Biofreeze® or Freeze-It® - Numbing jells, which can help my achy joints. I prefer the roll-on type, but there are several varieties.

- Ibuprofen – Enough said.

Since my second hospitalization several weeks ago, I’ve been trying to come up with a list of the things that I would want to keep in a pre-packed bag that I could easily grab and take with me for a hospital stay (of unknown duration):

- Slippers and/or socks

- A stockpile of meds

- Underwear

- Feminine hygiene products – because the hospital’s are of inferior quality

- Toothpaste and toothbrush

- Pajama set – Because I’m super sick of getting giant gowns that threaten to expose parts of myself that I don’t want exposed

- Reading material

- My special binder that has all of my important medical information in it

I always thought that I would be one of those people in the hospital, with my laptop and cell phone, always connected. But I’m not. I can’t seem to do much else other than lay there…

As you can see from both of these lists, it’s about the simple things in life. Aside from the cell phone, most of these things cost under $10, but they are worth their weight in gold. For me, organization and pain maintenance are key to my existence.

* All of the items mentioned here are my opinion and should not stand in for the advice of a medical professional. Additionally, these are products that I use of my own accord. I have not received compensation and/or kick backs for any of the products mentioned in this post.