The trouble with hot weather like this: it forces me to go out without my jumper. I feel naked without a jumper. Joking aside, psychologically, I feel they mask my misshaped body, of which I am so self-conscious. Though my arms are no longer the matchsticks they were, my torso remains the face of a …
Today claims to be the awareness day of the chromosome disorder I’ve been bestowed with. But, such is the perceived stigma, I won’t be participating, or raising awareness myself. I haven’t even told my own siblings about it, twenty years on from diagnosis. Others are braver than I am, claiming it as part of their …
I frequently identify all that troubles me — and seems to hold me back from making spiritual progress — as my lower self. But what if that is a misdiagnosis? Or only a partial diagnosis? What if it is in fact a manifestation of my chromo — and possibly neuro — diversity? Does that make …
Well, this doesn’t bode very well. I haven’t even started my new exercise routine, and yet already I have achy bones. Some of the aches, I can’t even understand where they came from. Driving the car? Using my computer? Doing some gardening, a whole week ago? The sudden change in the weather alone? So strange.
People often comment how youthful I look. I definitely don’t look like a bloke approaching fifty, nor do I feel like it. They ask me what my secret is. Of course, the fact I don’t drink or smoke keeps me from looking haggard. That’s not really it, though. If, at this stage, I could pass …
O mankind, what has deceived you concerning your Lord, the Generous? Who created you, proportioned you, and balanced you? In whatever form He willed has He assembled you. Quran 82:6-8 Thus are the discontented inner murmurs about my mishaped body answered. If upon glancing in the mirror, I mutter that I hate my form, here …
To say I have often been misunderstood would be a gross understatement. It’s been my defining characteristic. The number of times I have walked into conflicts of my own making, with the opposite intention, is quite astounding. There was the time at work, about twenty years ago, I sent what I thought was a supportive …
Some people are the life and soul of the party. In a crowded room, they are the centre of attention. The world seems to revolve around them. Me? I’m the type who fades into the wall, off on the far periphery. As a host, I’m more likely to serve my guests than engage in small …
When I went to fill up the car this morning, a complete stranger pointed at me to the cashier and exclaimed, “He’s so lucky!” This confused me, but it materialised they were talking about the menopause. “You will never know what it’s like,” she went on. Then, “Ignore me. I talk too much.” It wouldn’t …
It used to be complete strangers who’d yell at me across a street, “What you staring at?” Now it’s our lad when I simply glance at him across the room. Naturally, I can only conclude that my social gaze is broken.
To my mind, I feel I’m being remarkably assertive at the moment. For those that have to deal with me, however, that’s not exactly how they’d describe me. They’d call that assertiveness of mine a short temper, my usual passivity attributed to impeccable politeness. So they don’t hear my, “I’m sorry I haven’t finished yet” …
A trustee of the main organisation supporting people with my condition presented on the topic to a group of senior healthcare professionals this week. They spoke about the lived experience of people with the condition. About common comorbidities, learning difficulties and infertility. Yet of the nearly fifty healthcare professionals in attendance, none reported having heard …
In the midst of fertility investigations, you’ve diagnosed your patient as having a common chromosome disorder. You may only be concerned about the fertility implications, but this is a combined diagnosis which must be managed sensitively. Sadly, it rarely is. This is probably the worst possible time for your patient to discover what was wrong …
Without a firm foundation, you’re cut adrift. I always feel I lack that foundation. Whether that’s true or not, I can’t really say. If we were to draw our lives as a graph, sloping upwards to the right, I’d see the first few years of mine flatlining before finally beginning to rise only with a …
One of the most noticeable effects of testosterone therapy is the immediate boost in confidence. The examples that jump out at me may strike others as daft or commonplace, but I would say that’s a consequence of taking what is normal for granted. If for the past six weeks I was plummeting down into the …
