The book I was referring to in my post from last night was Saving Sammy: Curing the Boy Who Caught OCD, by Beth Alison Maloney. I sat down to read at 6pm and finished it a few hours later. I swear, I meant to get off the couch and work on my final exams, but it just didn’t happen. I was really taken aback by how much this book affected me.

Maloney’s son Sammy inexplicably developed OCD-like symptoms after a move. At first she thought he was acting strange under stress due to the move and divorce from Sammy’s father, but the symptoms continued to worsen and the medications didn’t help. Sammy’s compulsions grew worse and worse to the point where he was uncontrollable, it took him forever to do anything, and he could not attend school. As a single mother, Maloney’s hand were full caring for Sammy and desperately trying to get to the bottom of his illness, and meanwhile, she had a son away at boarding school and a younger son at home.

Sammy saw many doctors, but it wasn’t until he met with one doctor in particular that they came across a possible diagnosis: PANDAS, or Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections. Apparently, Sammy had asymptomatic strep, and this was causing his OCD and Tourette’s-like behaviors. Finally, with the support of this and another new doctor, Sammy was finally put on a course of medications that seemed to help. Of course, there were more ups and downs, but by controlling the strep with antibiotics, Sammy was able to return to his previous self. The book ends off with him attending the same boarding school where his older brother went, and getting straight As.

What was so disturbing about this book was that few of the doctors really understood what was going on with Sammy, and since there wasn’t a lot of literature out there on PANDAS, they simply didn’t look into it as a possible cause. It was also horrifying to read about how Sammy was so destroyed by his compulsions. Maloney describes instances where it took him over an hour to get from one room to another, simply because he had so many rituals that he had to go through. He would finally get to the next room, but sweaty and exhausted. Can you imagine living your life that way? I can’t even begin to imagine how difficult that would be, and when I think about how his mother must have felt, well… there are no words.

I think this book hit close to him with the topic of disbelieving doctors since my mother went through a similar experience a few years ago. There is a tendency to believe that doctors are these all-knowing entities, but really, they’re human too and they can’t be expected to know everything. Sammy’s story made me think of the saying, “When you hear hoof beats, think horses, not zebras.” First off, that’s a pretty Euro-centric saying. But that’s neither here nor there. In Sammy’s case, the doctors were mostly thinking “horses” and I don’t blame them. But when “horses” consistently failed, they should have moved onto “zebras.” Does that make sense? I guess my point is that while horses are more common where we are, that doesn’t mean that zebras don’t exist. You should never deny the existence of zebras because you never know when one will start galloping towards you.

And that’s the end of my tangent…

Next up: Six Months in Sudan: A Young Doctor in a War-Torn Village, by James Maskalyk. I will warn you that although the subject matter is fascinating and meaningful, the writing itself was not quite there. The book began as a blog, and perhaps Maskalyk’s story transmits better in that format.

The author ends up in a village called Abyei in Sudan through the organization Doctors Without Borders. His six month stint is full of dust (as he mentions quite frequently), as well as a frustrating inability to save everyone who ends up at the clinic. Some of his descriptions of dying infants are absolutely heart-wrenching, yet he ends up writing about it in a detached manner as he learns to deal with the inevitability of death.

On my part, I would have liked to learn more about the cultural differences in treating illness and injury in Abyei. He only mentioned the local healer once, but beyond that there is little mention of local beliefs as they relate to medicine and healing. I guess Maskalyk wasn’t really trying to educate the reader on the Sudanese so much as he wanted to give an account of what it’s like to be thrown into a situation that is vastly different from what you are accustomed to, and in that sense he succeeded. There was no sugarcoating of the place, and I appreciated his frank discussion of the misery and boredom. He could have easily glorified the situation to make himself seem like a “better,” and more compassionate person, but he ended up teaching me that sometimes you can feel too much, and that gets in the way of accomplishing the mission.

Alright, enough homework for tonight. Now on to writing about my latest reads!

First off: John Irving’s latest, Last Night in Twisted River. I won’t lie, I have read quite a few of Irving’s novels and have enjoyed every last one. There’s something really charming about his writing, but in this new one, it started to hit me that the same themes come up over and over again. It’s always a father and a son, the son always goes to Exeter and likes to run, and so on so forth. The funny thing is, the son character in Last Night in Twisted River becomes a writer and ends up receiving the exact criticism that I just gave Irving. So, this makes me wonder, how much of Irving is in his characters? A lot, I would imagine.

The novel started slowly for me due to the fact that it begins with a description of a logging camp and I know absolutely no logging jargon. It’s hard for me to get into a story if it starts right off the bat with a topic or setting that does not interest me. Luckily, it got a better within a chapter.

My favorite character was Ketchum, the foul-mouthed, roaring lumberjack who acts as a guardian angel of sorts to the father/son combo. He persists throughout the book as a loud, though far away presence and he just seemed like a really likeable guy. Well, that is, unless he decided he didn’t like you. In that case, you’d be in trouble.

All in all, not my favorite, but if you’re looking for a twisted, somewhat odd and charming read, go for it.

What I do when I am desperately trying to avoid writing my final papers…

I just read an entire book this evening. It was gripping. I’ll make sure to tell y’all about it (and the other books I’ve read recently) over the weekend.

It’s World AIDS Day.

I finally got around to watching Rudo y Cursi! Hooray! I just had to see the latest Diego Luna *giggle giggle* and Gael García Bernal flick, and contrary to what I heard (I forget who told me), I rather enjoyed it.

The actors play brothers from rural Mexico who dream of bigger and better things. One day, a soccer scout happens upon their town and decides the guys are good enough for the big time. Fame and wealth, though exciting at first, become the brothers’ downfall as they are pitted against each other in an important game. When it comes down to it, brotherly love overrides the desire for celebrity, yet still leads to grave consequences.

It’s worth watching, if only to see Diego Luna with a ridiculous mustache.

(via )

This made me giggle out loud and tear up. Simultaneously.

Yesterday I finished Frank Bruni’s Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-Time Eater. I like food memoirs, and was particularly interested to read this one by Bruni, since he has a much coveted job: restaurant critic for the New York Times. But don’t make the mistake of thinking this book is about all of the wonderful and delicious meals Bruni has encountered, because you will find yourself disappointed. This memoir is more about Bruni’s lifelong battle with food.

I have read many books dealing with eating disorders and disordered eating from the perspective of women, so this new perspective was incredibly fascinating, not to mention depressing at times (how could it not be?). It just goes to show that food and eating issues are incredibly common among us!

Four day weekend = Reading Time! Now that’s something to be thankful for! First book on my recently finished list: Barbara J. Berg, Ph.D.’s Sexism in America: Alive, Well, and Ruining Our Future. How could I not pick up a book with a title like that?

If you know nothing about sexism in our country, or would like to take Sexism 101 in your free time, I would recommend this book. For someone like myself who was introduced to feminism at an early age, much of this book seemed like common knowledge, but that is precisely the point: it is not. There are still plenty of people out there who think the power and privilege gap between genders in our country has closed, and this book is for them.

Berg begins with a history of the women’s movement starting after WWII. She then works up to current times and dedicates chapters to some of the major issues facing women today, including (but not limited to), reproductive right, the virgin/slut dichotomy, representation in the media, economic freedom, and more. It’s a great overview of the many battles we continue to fight.

There are many things I am thankful for on this day:

1. My lovely fiancee, and our upcoming wedding
2. My mother, who I can talk to about anything and whose humor I have (unfortunately?) inherited
3. My friends (from VT, from college, from work, from study abroad, and so many other places) who put up with my silly puns and still love me in spite of them
4. My kitty cats, whose cuddles and purrs and crazy antics make life all the more fun
5. My health (and having survived the swine flu!)
6. Having a job, and an enjoyable one at that
7. The privilege of being well fed, sheltered, and safe. I realize there are people everywhere who do not live this way, and I hope I can somehow make a difference in this world so that more people can enjoy a holiday like Thanksgiving

Just for a second, let’s pretend that I don’t live in a town named after a man who gave smallox blankets to Native Americans in the area…

Okay, now let’s pretend that Thanksgiving is about being grateful for the love, kindness, and generosity in our lives and also about eating great food.

That’s better.

I hope your Thanksgiving was as comfortable as mine was! This year we went super low key, meaning it was just me, my mom, and our neighbor. We watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in its entirety (LOVED the old ladies on purple tricycles), and played a heated game of Trivial Pursuit. Our neighbor one. In my defense, I was ahead for most of the game but for some reason I couldn’t land on a yellow square, which was the last piece I needed.

Some great moments from the game:

• My mom had a question about what nationality appears in the song, “Twelve Days of Christmas.” She repeatedly sang, “Fiiiiiiive gold rings…” and then insisted it was four turtle doves (I said it was four calling birds). Then she mutters something about French, but doesn’t seem to recognize that as a nationality. After much gesturing and hinting from myself and our neighbor, she says, “French men?… French hens!” It took a good ten minutes to get there.
• My mom got a question about the “mother of rapper Kevin Federline’s children Sean Preston and Jayden James.” Super easy, right? Mom misheard the question and thought she was supposed to figure out Kevin Federline’s mother, except she had no idea who he was. She assumed he was black since he was a rapper, and goes, “Ummm Lena Horne? Uh… Aretha Franklin?” She even guessed the mother from The Cosby Show! At this point the neighbor and I are laughing so hard we’re practically crying. Note to mom: Not all rappers are black.

I guess I’ll spare you all from the full recap. It was a great game, though. We then moved on to begin our very laidback Thanksgiving meal of turkey thighs, mashed potatoes, Stovetop stuffing (at my insistence), and apple pie. Cooking time was minimal, and so was clean up.

Next came craft time. My mom needed to make some bookmarks, so we got all this holiday-themed crafting supplies. To be honest, I’m no good at being artsy and creative. The bookmarks I contributed look like they were made by an eight year old. DIY is not my friend.

Now I’m sitting here all cozy in my bathrobe and ready for bed though it’s only 8pm. It was a chill Thanksgiving, which is exactly what I needed after the chaos and fun of the past several weeks. I hope y’all had a lovely day too!

TheDieline.com: Package Design: Lucky Cat Candy Packet

I want these gumballs!!!

It was a crazy fun and event-filled weekend but I still managed to finish Philip Roth’s (short) novel, The Humbling. I usually enjoy Roth, but I have to say that this one didn’t quite meet my expectations. It revolves around an aging actor who has lost his confidence. Beyond that I’m not sure what the rest of the book was really supposed to be about. Perhaps I wasn’t in the right mindset for this book (or perhaps I was too hungover to understand)…

Card given to me at my surprise bachelorette party.