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CALL OF THE VOID
an MS blog
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HELLO
The call of the void, or l'appel du vide in French, is the sudden desire to jump when encountering a high place. Rather than an expression of despondence, most consider the feeling to be an affirmation of life. Living with MS sometimes feels like standing atop a cliff, peering over the edge to the uncharted waters below. I choose to leap. Come join me.
- Erin
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Figuring-This-Shit-Out-With-Varying-Degrees-Of-Success-Depending-On-The-Day Barbie
Earlier this week, I was back in Cleveland for a long overdue research visit at the Cleveland Clinic. I didn't get to see my 7-Tesla MRI...
Erin Norris
Sep 29, 20231 min read
244 views
0 comments
Reinvention: September 10, 2023
Time moves forward like a spider spinning its web: quietly, imperceptibly in the night, until suddenly something new appears with dawn....
Erin Norris
Sep 10, 20233 min read
377 views
0 comments
Who Am I?: May 17, 2023
It’s apparently a uniquely North American phenomenon that, when meeting someone new, one of the first questions we ask is: “What do you...
Erin Norris
May 17, 20234 min read
336 views
4 comments
For Now: April 26, 2023
My son came home from school one day in grade five, eager to show me a video he had watched in class. It was from Sesame Street, he told...
Erin Norris
Apr 26, 20232 min read
144 views
0 comments
Six Months In: January 1st, 2023
The process of recovering after stem cell transplant presents its own unique challenges; in some ways it feels more difficult than the...
Erin Norris
Jan 1, 20233 min read
231 views
3 comments
Leah’s Bat Mitzvah: November 26th, 2022
Despite my worries, fears and reservations, we celebrated our baby girl’s Bat Mitzvah on November 26th, 2022. It was a beautiful, big,...
Erin Norris
Nov 26, 20222 min read
179 views
1 comment
On Writing: September 8th, 2022
Before I remember wanting anything else, I wanted to be a writer: writing has long been a way for me to make sense of my world. At age...
Erin Norris
Sep 8, 20224 min read
309 views
6 comments
Life is a Balance: July 31st, 2022
I rarely speak about my work: not about the impact of being a physician on this journey, but about my actual job. I work as a clinician...
Erin Norris
Jul 31, 20223 min read
372 views
8 comments
Home: July 13, 2022
I arrived home six days ago on July 7th, and it’s taken this long to get (mostly) settled, and to really start to think about what this...
Erin Norris
Jul 13, 20222 min read
232 views
2 comments
Surely: July 2, 2022
Today is Day +23, and it’s been a week since my last post; it’s remarkable how so much has changed in the last seven days. It’s true what...
Erin Norris
Jul 2, 20222 min read
251 views
2 comments
Earliest Healing: June 25, 2022
Today is Day 16. On my lamb legs I take my fourth post-transplant roll down the hall to…room 16. Here is Carolyn. Her admission...
Erin Norris
Jun 25, 20221 min read
245 views
3 comments
To my amazing, wonderful child, as you embark on this wild adventure called being a Camp Counsellor.
Today, Camp Counsellor, you are no longer a camper, and the camp universe no longer revolves around you. That is a hard lesson to learn,...
Erin Norris
Jun 25, 20221 min read
140 views
0 comments
Back from Delirium: June 24, 2022
Today is Day +15: it's been a long time since I've last posted. I had some complications from the stem cell transplant that left me not...
Erin Norris
Jun 24, 20221 min read
231 views
4 comments
Shift Change: June 14, 2022
In the quiet hour around shift change at the hospital, the sun a little lower in the sky through my window, time seems carved out just...
Erin Norris
Jun 14, 20222 min read
229 views
2 comments
Vulnerable: June 12, 2022
In the process of a stem cell transplant, there is a period of time when the myeloablative chemo has completed its job, which is to...
Erin Norris
Jun 12, 20221 min read
201 views
1 comment
Awhile: June 11, 2022
Writing, for me, is an opportunity to lay bare the sometimes jumbled thoughts and emotions that life brings me. It is a place for me to...
Erin Norris
Jun 11, 20221 min read
208 views
0 comments
Admission and Everything After: June 5, 2022
Time is elastic here on the Blood & Marrow Transplant ward. I arrive at the admitting desk at 7:30am on June 2nd with my entourage of...
Erin Norris
Jun 5, 20222 min read
194 views
1 comment
Surprises: May 31, 2022
This last day in May was full of surprises. I am back at Taussig today for labs, a Covid test, and a final checkup to confirm I'm well...
Erin Norris
May 31, 20222 min read
145 views
0 comments
Hope Is a Dangerous Thing: May 30, 2022
Today is my Day -10. The days are labelled this way to count down until Day 0 - my stem cell transplant - and thereafter transition to...
Erin Norris
May 30, 20222 min read
247 views
2 comments
Man Plans, and God Laughs: May 28, 2022
In all our lives there is uncertainty. We cannot control the weather, the behaviour of others, natural disasters, mass shootings, or a...
Erin Norris
May 28, 20222 min read
271 views
7 comments
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