Exploring the Jungle —Mary Lott

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…

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…

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…

I sank into the overstuffed armchair and leaned back into the super soft throw pillow with a sigh of happiness. I was looking forward to today. My previous salon had closed a long time ago, and it took me over a year to find another place to receive my favorite…

At 68, I imagine I have earned the right to say no to activities I do not wish to do. I have distinguished my likes and dislikes, my preferences and disinclinations. As long as I’m not breaking the law or disrespecting others, I should be able to plan my days.

“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…

I was doing my best not to panic. I couldn’t get away even if I tried — there were too many assistant vampires surrounding me, and I couldn’t overpower them all. My breath came in short gasps, and I grew dizzy. Ouchie-wow-wow! Oh, that hurt. Over and over, the vicious…

Way back in the early 1990s, when we were preparing to live in a tropical rainforest, a wonderful book was recommended to us called the “Village Medical Manual.” It was a compendium of diseases and symptoms and gave the reader a smorgasbord of ailments from which…

The rain looked like shards of ice in front of my face. I was bundled up as much as possible on that cold November day. The sky was as gray as I felt as we buried my beloved sister-in-law. Because I had just recovered from a recent illness, I stood…

My phone started ringing about 8:15 in the morning. I knew who it was and why he was calling. A wry smile was on my face as I answered it. The Spencer Cancer Center in Alabama makes laboratory results available to patients about 36 hours after a…