One Piece of Advice...

On writing memoir and, well, giving advice:

Whenever students in my memoir workshops give me their reasons for not writing a memoir, I say, “Look at your objection as a solvable problem.”

If you really want to extend your question into all of life, I could repeat the coaching I received in my counseling classes. “Never give advice.” I’m not always good at following that.--Jerry Waxler, author, instructor, and creator of the Memory Writers Network. Find his books and more of his writing here. 

One Piece of Advice...

For living with brain injury...


All caregivers require and deserve an occasional break to care for their own physical and emotional health.--Garry Prowe, author of Successfully Surviving Brain Injury. Find your copy here.

One Piece Of Advice

I realize

now that people probably feel weird when I talk about my situation. I just want everyone to know that I'm not expecting you to say anything. I'm not expecting anything profound. Sometimes, I just want to talk about it. I'm not looking for a should to cry on.

Just, please. Don't tell me I am over-reacting. Them's some fightin' words ;)

--Calabresella, from her blog, Girl With a Pearl Size Cavernous Angioma.

You can find the rest of her post here.

I want to thank her for letting me blatantly steal her first paragraph and linking to her blog; I just thought her advice was that important to share. Watch them fighting words.

What advice to you have? As a friend? Parent? Spouse? Or patient? Leave a comment. I'd love to hear from you...

One Piece Of Advice

One piece of advice for parents raising a child with cavernous angiomas:

"Actually, I have three pieces of advice. One: When going for MRIs, make sure your child isn't wearing a certain brand of underwear that starts with an "H" and ends with an "S." If you get what I mean. A technician warned us they use metallic thread in some of their waistbands. Not sure it makes a difference, but, hey. 

The second is don't let them ever bring in a stuffed Pikachu. I have no clue what inside of it is metal, exactly, but something is. This we learned the hard way. It got sucked right into the machine. They weren't happy with us, either.

The third is be patient. With your kid, your spouse, but most of all yourself. Because you're going to screw up. Every parent does." -S, dad of son with multiple cavernomas.

One Piece Of Advice

One piece of advice for living with cavernous angiomas:

"You're not someone who has angiomas. The person you love is not someone who has angiomas. They are, you are, someone who happens to have angiomas. Don't let them define you, defeat you, or outshine the glory that's you. It's your choice."--Nurse J, family practice.