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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
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
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
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
Mile Marker 28: May 24, 2022
I awake this morning to a pink Cleveland sky, my heart aching for Larry and my children. My family drove home yesterday after a visit...
Erin Norris
May 24, 20221 min read
165 views
2 comments
Ambiguous Loss: May 17, 2022
Yesterday, I posted a photo of me with my rollator. Even the sentence is difficult for me to write, as it contains words that I’ve...
Erin Norris
May 17, 20222 min read
317 views
12 comments
The Opposite of Judgement: May 12, 2022
I am losing my hair. It started falling out in the shower on Wednesday, and I joked to Larry and some friends that the Cleveland Clinic...
Erin Norris
May 12, 20222 min read
262 views
2 comments
Caregiving: May 7, 2022
I’m up early again after a sleep of the dead, writing from my bed with a blue sky outside my window. When was the last time I awoke with...
Erin Norris
May 7, 20222 min read
215 views
0 comments
On Anxiety: May 4, 2022
These days fall into an easy rhythm as everything but the most essential is stripped away. I wake, write a bit, attend my clinic...
Erin Norris
May 4, 20222 min read
194 views
2 comments
Faking It: April 27th, 2022
My MR report came back yesterday evening, which showed a new lesion in my brain. It actually took me by surprise more than anything....
Erin Norris
Apr 27, 20222 min read
428 views
2 comments
Cardiac Window
When I was a resident rotating though the ICU, I had patient who was recovering from a medical procedure called a pericardial window....
Erin Norris
Apr 1, 20221 min read
218 views
0 comments
On Vulnerability: February 13, 2022
I feel like I’ve spent the last two months trying to build back my physical and emotional health, brick by brick. Too busy with...
Erin Norris
Feb 13, 20221 min read
211 views
0 comments
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