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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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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
Driving Home From Cleveland, a guest post: May 23, 2022
When my mom first reached out and asked me to write this, it was only about an hour after we said our final goodbye and headed back to...
Rebecca Davidson
May 23, 20223 min read
372 views
15 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
Reprieve: May 14, 2022
My central line was removed yesterday with topical anesthetic and without fanfare. I can return now to stomach sleeping, and soon also to...
Erin Norris
May 14, 20221 min read
150 views
2 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
Serendipity and Stem Cell Collection: May 10, 2022
This past weekend was a quiet lead-up to stem cell collection. Of Neupogen injections with their attendant headaches, nausea that swept...
Erin Norris
May 10, 20223 min read
221 views
0 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
Wade Lagoon: May 2nd, 2022
Today surprises me with a good day, like the feeling of putting on clean glasses you didn’t even know had become smudged. I am at the...
Erin Norris
May 2, 20222 min read
162 views
2 comments
Cytoxan and the Weekend After: Friday April 29th, 2022
Cytoxan day comes and goes in an organized dance of timed medications and hydration, altogether a little anti-climactic despite the many...
Erin Norris
Apr 30, 20221 min read
131 views
0 comments
Ascent: April 28, 2022
If every day before today has been about preparation, today begins the first step of the ascent toward transplant with the insertion of a...
Erin Norris
Apr 28, 20222 min read
139 views
0 comments
And in other news…I’m on Instagram
I’ve also started an Instagram blog for those small moments that arise through the day, and for those days where it’s just too much to...
Erin Norris
Apr 27, 20221 min read
192 views
0 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
This is not a goodbye letter: April 26, 2022
My mom, my step-dad and I drove to Cleveland yesterday after a Saturday spent packing and a Sunday full of goodbyes. Full disclosure: I...
Erin Norris
Apr 26, 20222 min read
580 views
10 comments
366 views
2 comments
Hold Both Tightly: Pre-Transplant Assessment, April 11-12, 2022
Larry and I leave early Monday morning for the pre-transplant assessment at Cleveland Clinic, a two-day whirlwind of tests and meetings...
Erin Norris
Apr 14, 20222 min read
376 views
0 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
About Stem Cell Transplant for MS
From the BEAT-MS Clinical Trial study description, annotations my own: MS is a disease caused by one's own immune cells. Normally, immune...
Erin Norris
Feb 9, 20222 min read
185 views
0 comments
If Your Will Is Strong Enough: Pursuing a Stem Cell Transplant
I’ve always believed that my strength and determination played a role in my recovery from each relapse. That not only did in help me live...
Erin Norris
Feb 1, 20222 min read
206 views
0 comments
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