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Should I stay or should I go now (to the doctor)?

It didn’t surprise anyone that on Dec. 11, 2019, I was attending another school band concert, given that my husband, Mike, is the band director. But this particular concert was memorable not because of the music, but for the familiar burning tickle in the back of my throat. It presaged…

My top tips for ensuring a smooth hospital stay

I clasped the wad of papers in my hand and made my way to the sign that read “Admitting.” I slumped into the chair and mumbled answers to the person on the other side of the desk. Most people say they don’t like hospital stays, but I don’t mind them.

Like a rose bush, growth with CAD takes time and patience

I opened the front door and, clippers in hand, skipped out to see the full blossom of my yellow rose. I purchased the plant back in the middle of February. It had one nursery-forced bloom, which faded away after a week. Now would begin the real test of growth. Could…

Grappling with stealth symptoms of CAD and their consequences

By outward appearances, I look just fine in an oldish, grandmotherly sort of way. Yet underneath it all lies a stealthy hidden monster known as cold agglutinin disease (CAD). Most of the time, people can’t tell I have it. A now-distant friend once asked me, “Were you always a…

How I prepared for my first Rituxan infusion

I swung my leather computer backpack on and hoisted my tote bag onto my shoulder. It was my first time receiving the immunotherapy Rituxan (rituximab). I was quite apprehensive. Over and over again, I repeated the mantra my doctor’s nurse had given me: “It’s not chemotherapy. It’s…

When it comes to living with CAD, no good deed goes unpunished

“Ouch! Consarnit! Dagnabbit! Wrassin-frassin-muchi-fuchi!” I grabbed my foot and hopped around the room one-legged, expressing lots of adjectives about the pain I was feeling. “Man, that hurt!” I yelled, listening as my expressions echoed through the empty house. I was doing a favor for a friend and had just started…