So, here’s two substacks that I always open when they come into my inbox.įirst, the original use of this Substack 3 format that made me pay attention, The Audacity by Roxane Gay. That’s what I promised, that’s what this post has become at the end. But also, I don’t want to be that casual. Okay, since I’ve started this Substack I wanted to keep it casual, like “Hey, I liked this, what if you like it too?” Somehow the Instagram format felt more casual because people could scroll by when I upload four seemily unrelated pictures of hospital wall art, an ID tag, my cats, and a random screen shot of a podcast episode. Three pictures and what I came here to share And so, it’s made it to the printer machine. But, when she said it was an option in the hospital system, I said yes, do that 2. When the X marker was approved for California ID’s I didn’t go sign up, because I didn’t want to have that conversation with Cops. So, when I talked with my Neurologist about this, and she was awkwardly asking me what SHOULD be on the bracelet, I had to do some decision making. For example, because I am not often read as a man for long 1, an M marker could create confusion that I’m literally the wrong patient if I wasn’t able to say “yeah! That’s me!”.
![roxane gay audacity substack roxane gay audacity substack](https://www.dailydot.com/wp-content/uploads/3bc/c4/4cb676ba866a266b.png)
So, the M on my bracelent made me anxious that, if I was unconscious and transferred, I might not receive quick, adequate care. But, as I wrote about a few years ago, I had a terrifying experience with a transphobic nurse when I was in ICU after I gave birth to my youngest kid. Generally, I don’t spend a lot of time quibbling with other people about what they think my gender or my sex is. And still, I’m the boss of my body and it’s was okay to try and not feel like a zombie for 48 hours after, considering that I do this every six months. As soon as they turned up the drip, the allergic reaction started (for me it comes in the form of scratchy throat), and in went steroids and a stream of scolding from a nurse about it being a stupid decision to try to do it without.
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and I decided to try doing it without steroids to see if my body no longer perceived the cell-killing medicine as the enemy.
![roxane gay audacity substack roxane gay audacity substack](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/05/26/books/26ROXANEGAY/26ROXANEGAY-videoSixteenByNine3000.jpg)
This is my 5th time doing an infusion, the vast majority of them done in COVID times. I was up so late because I had my bi-annual dose of liquid steroids, which accompany an infusion that, over these next couple days, is said to kill off my B cells so they don’t poke through the myelin barrier allowing other cells to attack my brain and spinal system like they’ve been doing for the last couple decades. As you can see, they are playing ice-cream truck. Obligatory kitten picture, taken by my wife, Nova.