A lesson that I learned from working on a hospital ward, albeit in a non-medical role, is that any time a patient suffers a rapid onset of wayward symptoms, that are often accompanied by a change in personality, they might have a UTI. It is even more likely if they have been fitted with a urinary catheter.
I worked on a stroke and neurological rehab ward. There were always three or four trainee doctors on a three-month rotation, who would be under the direction of one of the consultants. I was surprised by how often, in these situations, a trainee would immediately assume a neurological trigger for a decline in a patient's condition, rather than first taking steps to eliminate what was the most the most obvious cause.
As a glorified clerk, it wasn't my place to involve myself in the medical care of patients, or to insert my own judgement into these conversations, but I often felt like asking: 'Have you considered doing a urinalysis or a urine culture test?'
Just make sure that you screw the lid on properly. I worked in pathology for nine months. Through some quirk of bureaucracy, my status as an in-house temp spared me the unpalatable task of sorting urine samples – a solo job, allotted by rota, that was colloquially referred to as 'urine lady' (Pathology, in common with the majority of hospital departments, was predominantly staffed by women). Every so often one of my colleagues would end up being drenched in a stranger's piss because a sample hadn't been properly sealed.
My adventures in learning how to fall over properly are tied to ulcerative colitis, which produces an ongoing rumble of background pain that will occasionally spike to extreme levels. Suddenly I will be on the ground. For a split second I will wonder how I got there, then my pain receptors will re-engage. Describing the sensation as agony would be a tremendous injustice. You'd think that you would scream, but I always end up laughing. I used to attempt to suppress the pain but now I lean into it. I get right up against it. I've moved on from my version of 'this too will pass' seasoned with extra curse words and profane references to prominent biblical figures. I've come to the conclusion that I am happiest living in the present moment regardless of whether things are going well or appallingly.
As a result of these fractional blackouts, I have attempted to condition myself to fall over on my side, rather than face-first, which I have done in the past. I would rather risk a broken arm than the kind of head injury that results in my well-meaning carers attempting to mollify my distress with a cocktail of Sevredol and Michael Jackson. On days, when I feel that I might be at risk of falling, I take a stick with me when I leave the house.
Unfortunately, the bog-standard state northern school tradition continued when I was still there a few years ago and unless you were in the ‘gay squad’, gay was very much still an insult on someone’s masculinity (‘lesbian’ was also on the rise amount the girls too).
But I think society is moving forward nonetheless, and as you said, it’s not straight forward. I’m sure in the 2000s, it would’ve been strange to see some of the electoral candidates for both the U.S. and UK elections, but not so surprised at the regressive laws on LGBTQ rights. Same can be said for disability rights and benefits, which is utterly absurd to us all now but might not have been in the 1980s at the birth of neoliberalism. There’s always going to be underlying issues in society, but it doesn’t mean that progress isn’t happening.
However, like me, I think we get frustrated when it isn’t happening fast enough. If you have been an exceptionally talented individual your entire life, then it surely should apply to every walk of life that you’re in. Its why you find a lot of smart people give up after a few weeks of trying a new hobby, since you get so good to naturally being good at something that you can’t understand that you can start with being naturally shit at something, but end up being quite good at it in the end. This of course isn’t to say you aren’t resilient, but I’m sure you have a complicated relationship with that word too, after a lot of hardship you just want something to be easy for a while, and it’s hard to process when it’s not being easy for you.
Disability seems to have taken over the word ‘gay’ though, although this mainly seems to be in the form of ‘acoustic’ (get it, autistic but not autistic so you can’t get in trouble). Though my copy of your new book is currently being held hostage by US Amazon, I think the ideas in that book should be interesting to think about whilst thinking about casual -isms in society, too.
Many people don’t even seem to recall how nasty things were for gay and bi and other not straight people really not very long ago. You don’t have to look far - and of the tabloid newspapers even 20 years ago. I can’t remember what I was watching - maybe something about the phone hacking scandal - and there were some little vignettes about Simon Hughes MP who was outed. What people were saying and what it was ok to say - ****ing horrible. That was maybe 2006? And it’s not gone away - it’s now squarely fixed on trans people. While it’s exactly the same stuff (they’re perverted, something wrong mentally, they should stop it, they’re a threat, people shouldn’t have to be around them, protect the children etc etc etc), since it’s now often coming from some groups of people who might historically have through that of themselves as liberal and progressive (“protecting women and girls ra!) people somehow aren’t noticing that it’s just reheated homophobia and just as terrible. In that context I was reading a New Yorker article about Judith Butler - whose recent book is great by the way, and she was talking about a philosopher that I thought sounded interesting. “Merleau-Ponty propounded the idea that the body, not consciousness, is our primary instrument for understanding the world. To be in a body is not to be contained but to be exposed to the world; from our first breath, we are in need of care from other people. Merleau-Ponty is a deep influence; one can feel him tumbling around in the back seat of much of Butler’s thinking. “I am open to a world that acts on me in ways that cannot be fully predicted or controlled in advance, and something about my openness is not, strictly speaking, under my control,” they have said.” https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/05/06/judith-butler-profile
A lesson that I learned from working on a hospital ward, albeit in a non-medical role, is that any time a patient suffers a rapid onset of wayward symptoms, that are often accompanied by a change in personality, they might have a UTI. It is even more likely if they have been fitted with a urinary catheter.
I worked on a stroke and neurological rehab ward. There were always three or four trainee doctors on a three-month rotation, who would be under the direction of one of the consultants. I was surprised by how often, in these situations, a trainee would immediately assume a neurological trigger for a decline in a patient's condition, rather than first taking steps to eliminate what was the most the most obvious cause.
As a glorified clerk, it wasn't my place to involve myself in the medical care of patients, or to insert my own judgement into these conversations, but I often felt like asking: 'Have you considered doing a urinalysis or a urine culture test?'
Just make sure that you screw the lid on properly. I worked in pathology for nine months. Through some quirk of bureaucracy, my status as an in-house temp spared me the unpalatable task of sorting urine samples – a solo job, allotted by rota, that was colloquially referred to as 'urine lady' (Pathology, in common with the majority of hospital departments, was predominantly staffed by women). Every so often one of my colleagues would end up being drenched in a stranger's piss because a sample hadn't been properly sealed.
My adventures in learning how to fall over properly are tied to ulcerative colitis, which produces an ongoing rumble of background pain that will occasionally spike to extreme levels. Suddenly I will be on the ground. For a split second I will wonder how I got there, then my pain receptors will re-engage. Describing the sensation as agony would be a tremendous injustice. You'd think that you would scream, but I always end up laughing. I used to attempt to suppress the pain but now I lean into it. I get right up against it. I've moved on from my version of 'this too will pass' seasoned with extra curse words and profane references to prominent biblical figures. I've come to the conclusion that I am happiest living in the present moment regardless of whether things are going well or appallingly.
As a result of these fractional blackouts, I have attempted to condition myself to fall over on my side, rather than face-first, which I have done in the past. I would rather risk a broken arm than the kind of head injury that results in my well-meaning carers attempting to mollify my distress with a cocktail of Sevredol and Michael Jackson. On days, when I feel that I might be at risk of falling, I take a stick with me when I leave the house.
Some positive news: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01322-y
“Emphasis on trying”…
That says it all!
One small step for mankind. One GIANT step for you Paul. Best wishes to you as you traverse this new world in which you find yourself. 💚
Unfortunately, the bog-standard state northern school tradition continued when I was still there a few years ago and unless you were in the ‘gay squad’, gay was very much still an insult on someone’s masculinity (‘lesbian’ was also on the rise amount the girls too).
But I think society is moving forward nonetheless, and as you said, it’s not straight forward. I’m sure in the 2000s, it would’ve been strange to see some of the electoral candidates for both the U.S. and UK elections, but not so surprised at the regressive laws on LGBTQ rights. Same can be said for disability rights and benefits, which is utterly absurd to us all now but might not have been in the 1980s at the birth of neoliberalism. There’s always going to be underlying issues in society, but it doesn’t mean that progress isn’t happening.
However, like me, I think we get frustrated when it isn’t happening fast enough. If you have been an exceptionally talented individual your entire life, then it surely should apply to every walk of life that you’re in. Its why you find a lot of smart people give up after a few weeks of trying a new hobby, since you get so good to naturally being good at something that you can’t understand that you can start with being naturally shit at something, but end up being quite good at it in the end. This of course isn’t to say you aren’t resilient, but I’m sure you have a complicated relationship with that word too, after a lot of hardship you just want something to be easy for a while, and it’s hard to process when it’s not being easy for you.
Disability seems to have taken over the word ‘gay’ though, although this mainly seems to be in the form of ‘acoustic’ (get it, autistic but not autistic so you can’t get in trouble). Though my copy of your new book is currently being held hostage by US Amazon, I think the ideas in that book should be interesting to think about whilst thinking about casual -isms in society, too.
Yes I think this is very much right but much remains to be done. If you are up to reading, Liz Evans recent book is good: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/disability-and-political-representation-9780192859761?cc=gb&lang=en& -- or there is the more philosophical literature like Elizabeth Barnes The Minority Body (also much shorter) and Eve Kittay's Lessons from my Daughter.
And obvs Judith is a they not a she - and I accidentally used the wrong pronoun - sorry.
Many people don’t even seem to recall how nasty things were for gay and bi and other not straight people really not very long ago. You don’t have to look far - and of the tabloid newspapers even 20 years ago. I can’t remember what I was watching - maybe something about the phone hacking scandal - and there were some little vignettes about Simon Hughes MP who was outed. What people were saying and what it was ok to say - ****ing horrible. That was maybe 2006? And it’s not gone away - it’s now squarely fixed on trans people. While it’s exactly the same stuff (they’re perverted, something wrong mentally, they should stop it, they’re a threat, people shouldn’t have to be around them, protect the children etc etc etc), since it’s now often coming from some groups of people who might historically have through that of themselves as liberal and progressive (“protecting women and girls ra!) people somehow aren’t noticing that it’s just reheated homophobia and just as terrible. In that context I was reading a New Yorker article about Judith Butler - whose recent book is great by the way, and she was talking about a philosopher that I thought sounded interesting. “Merleau-Ponty propounded the idea that the body, not consciousness, is our primary instrument for understanding the world. To be in a body is not to be contained but to be exposed to the world; from our first breath, we are in need of care from other people. Merleau-Ponty is a deep influence; one can feel him tumbling around in the back seat of much of Butler’s thinking. “I am open to a world that acts on me in ways that cannot be fully predicted or controlled in advance, and something about my openness is not, strictly speaking, under my control,” they have said.” https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/05/06/judith-butler-profile