the wrong side of the bed

okay, but i saw my neurologist this morning. he referred me to a neuropsychologist who will (likely) do a "battery of tests" on me. IQ, spatial and verbal memory, little recall tests, and stuff like that. could be fun. my doctor kept saying that the neuropsychologist would be very interested in my cognitive abilities. i don't think i mind feeling like a rat or a toy.

my doctor told me, which he hadn't mentioned before, that the temporal lobe is involved in memory. i'm sure i could have looked it up myself, and maybe i did. who knows! he also seemed to stop down-playing the size of the damaged area.

we also discussed what would be benefitial about donating my brain. i asked, he didn't suggest it. he told me that, yes, my brain would be a valuable resource. at my urging, he explained what they would do and what they would probably find. i'm excited at the prospect of people examining me postmortem. one of the saddest things about being alive is that i cannot look at my guts and see how i am made. i know i can see how other people are put together, but i want to see my skeleton, my muscles, my organs...

anyway, back to my brain: i guess i hope there is a problem. it would certainly help in the reduction of negativity i feel about my overall failure at life. at least at the life i planned on having. i will let you know how it goes. i don't have the appointment yet. i have to wait on the request to go through my primary care physician.

Labels: epilepsy

My dad's friend had ankilosing spondilitis, which is a pretty rare bone condition. He donated his body to a medical school. From what I hear, they were very gracious and appreciative, and they didn't have his body very long so his family didn't have to wait too long before he was buried. I think it left the family with a very positive footnote to a long and painful disease. JJ

My mom & I signed the "cut me up!" thing on our driver's licenses. I don't care if I'm the gross anatomy body, though I'd bet a bunch of dorko endocrinologists will just stare at my adrenal gland for a few weeks.

thanks for the birthday email. i just read flowers for algernon for the first time and really liked it. i'm planning on reading other things by that author. oh, and i knew a girl in high school who had a picture of her father and a friend of his with a corpse propped up between them. this makes me hesitant to donate my body although they can have my organs. i know i'd be dead, but who knows what assholes will do with your body. and gary has mellowed over the years for the most part and i don't think he ever went on any meds which have made a world of difference for me. you are wonderful dor, don't believe otherwise.