I’m coming up on the third anniversary of the spring day that I collapsed at home from a Type A aortic dissection. It was the most serious in a series of medical events caused by vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. There’s no cure for vEDS, no “remission,” and the only treatment is to avoid the physical and … More Dissecting anniversaries
For Christmas 2018, we packed up our clan and headed out to southern Utah for a family week of skiing and holiday cheer. Packing for such a trip is no easy feat for a bunch of sea-level dwellers who wear shorts and flip-flops the entire year. Monica dusted off her ski clothes which date back … More What happens in Utah, stays in Utah
Nearly six months after Monica was accepted on the John Ritter Foundation team for the New York City Marathon, it was time to see if all those early wake-up calls, all those long runs, and all the moans and groans had paid off. She packed, and repacked her bags to make sure nothing was missing. … More No, sleep ’til Brooklyn… or Staten Island or Queens or the Bronx or Manhattan.
This is a quick post to let everyone know that we’re heading to New York this weekend where Monica will run the NYC Marathon as part of the John Ritter Foundation team. If you want to follow the action in real time, she’s starting in the 11am wave of runners. You can track her progress … More Lace Up Your Running Shoes: 26.2 in the Big Apple or BUST
Before getting in to this week’s post, I want to say a word about a man who lost his fight with vEDS this week. J.B. was a frequent voice on a vEDS Facebook group that I follow. He’d had several complications over the years. Last week he suffered an abdominal dissection followed by multiple ruptures … More 8,500 miles in a van wasn’t enough… Monica is going 26.2 miles more.
*They say laughter is the best medicine, but I am not a doctor and nothing on this page should be interpreted as medical advice. If this is an emergency, please dial 911 – then read this until the ambulance arrives: Planning and executing a two month family road trip was a challenge. Doing it with … More Five tips for road-tripping with Vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (that can even help humans with non-mutant arteries)
In the summer between my sophomore and junior year of college, I took an “internship” with a book publisher. Sounds exciting, doesn’t it? Well, this “internship” involved selling educational books door-to-door, in a place thousands of miles from home. It made future jobs like telemarketing and selling life insurance seem fun. My three roommates and … More Homeward bound!
There isn’t much that can be said about Yosemite that hasn’t been said before. We’ve seen the crisp black and white photos of Ansel Adams and the vivid color of the Apple desktop background on Macbooks throughout the world. Yosemite needs no introduction. I grew up in Southern California. The only notion of family vacation … More Serenity in Yosemite
Our visit to Zion was too brief, but the heat and cost of the accommodations motivated us to continue west. Destination: a little uncertain. A few days ahead we had a reservation at Yosemite National Park, which we already visited a few years ago. We had a little apprehension about the crowds that would greet … More Vegas baby! And Death… Valley.
We left Santa Fe after four nights in the tight confines of a hotel. It bordered on a being a really nice hotel. The rooms were “okay,” the restaurant was really good, the pool area was pleasant. One section of the hotel (not ours) came with a butler! Monica learned that those who accidentally enter … More We boldly leave Santa Fe…and only make it an hour down the road.
Don't make me turn this van around! RV Edition 