epilepsy

#358.5: On the Road Again

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RECORD STORE TALES MkII: Getting More Tale
#358.5: On the Road Again

Today was another day on the highway, on the road to another hospital!  We’re making progress on Jen’s epilepsy and she is currently staying at a hospital in Toronto for a few days as they try to figure out just what’s causing these seizures.  It will be the longest we’ve been apart since we’ve been married, six years ago.

You don’t come here to read mushy stuff, you come for funny stories and to read about the rock!  The drive itself was uneventful.  The eastbound lanes are clear, but a jackknifed tractor trailer on the westbound side left just one lane open to traffic.  It was backed up as far as the eye could see, and I was grateful I was not one of the commuters stuck in it.

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We had Zeppelin on the ride into Toronto.  With your morning traffic jams that just happen, we listened to all of Led Zeppelin I, the deluxe edition with bonus concert CD, Live at the Olympia in Paris.  As good as this set is — and it is good — it didn’t suit the mood this morning.  I should have started with Queen instead.  I drove home to disc one of the new Queen Forever, and the pop sound and bright melodies of Queen were  better suited to lift the mood.  On the way there, Plant’s anguished screams only heightened my own tension.  On the way back, Freddie’s smooth crooning was just what the doctor ordered.  It was a bright sunny afternoon drive home.

As is par for the course this time of year, my car came home covered in a thick gray coating of sludge and salt.  I almost went through almost half a tank of windshield washer fluid today!

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If she’s there a while and I have to hang around there, I will definitely be checking out some record stores.  When we passed the Honest Ed’s building, I realized that we were right in the vicinity of Mike and Aaron’s Annual Taranna Record Store Excursion!  It would be weird to be so close and not check out Sonic Boom.

I’m looking forward to video chatting with Jen tonight on our laptops.  She’s got a few days ahead that will be a mixture of boredom, homesickness, and tedious testing.  Me, I’m back to bachelor living for the week.  I’m already bored.

Today’s musical lesson: Queen lifts the mood!

#342: All in a Day’s Drive

RECORD STORE TALES Mk II: Getting More Tale
#342: All in a Day’s Drive

Friday November 21, 2014 was a pretty nice day weather wise. There was no precipitation and the skies were clear. If you’re going to pick a day to make a drive down the 401, you couldn’t have picked a better one. Jen needed to see a doctor at the hospital in Mississauga, so off we went. [Note: don’t worry, she’s fine. This is regarding her epilepsy.]  I brought music and reading materials, and kept a log of the rock:

9 am: Depart Kitchener for Brampton. Playing in the car: Deep Purple – Smoke on my Mega-Mix, a bootleg compilation CD of remixes and live tracks.

10 am: Pick up Jen’s mom in Brampton [she spent the weekend with us]. Depart for Mississauga. Playing on car stereo: Van Halen – 5150.  As a “bonus track”, I tacked on the live version of “Why Can’t This Be Love” (from the music video) to the end of the playlist.  Jen’s comment: “The singing on this is… (pause)…really not as good as the regular version.”  She’s right.

11 am: Arrive at hospital. Playing on mp3 player: Kiss – Love Gun (deluxe). Reading material: Martin Popoff – Live Magnetic Air: The Unlikely Saga of the Superlative Max Webster

4 pm: Depart hospital with mission accomplished.

6:30 pm: Finally arrive home after 2 1/2 hour crawl along Highway 401!  The whole way was brake light city. Just a tedious, slow drive. There was no reason for it.  From what I could tell, it was all caused by commuters that didn’t know how to properly merge.  When somebody leaves you 5 or 6 car lengths space to merge in, take it.  Don’t race further ahead to see if you can get in front of that transport truck and that guy in the Hyundai.  Car music: Van Halen – Fair Warning, Diver Down, and A Different Kind of Truth. Yes, that means Jen and her mom heard a LOT of Van Halen today. And that’s fucking cool.

For more information on epilepsy, please visit epilepsyontario.org.

Popoff’s awesome book
Hospital loo

Part 43: Shake Your Foundations (Epilepsy Sucks!)

In 2008, the year we got married, Jen was diagnosed with epilepsy.  Some people with epilepsy never have a seizure, once diagnosed and medicated.  Unfortunately for us, Jen is not one of those people.

It’s been a long hard struggle, but we have made it through so far with humour and a positive attitude.  One part of having a positive attitude came from my research on the illness. While researching epilepsy online, I discovered that numerous rock stars have it, but still function!  Knowing this was a huge boost to our attitudes, because being on stage involves lots of lights, and lights can be a trigger for many people with epilepsy.

I constructed a 4 O’Clock 4-Play for Craig at 107.5 Dave FM, involving this theme.  My goal was simply to raise awareness.  I told Craig, “If just one person hears this and learns something about epilepsy then my work is done, because so many people have no idea what it is.”  Judging by the feedback I got, it did succeed in getting people thinking!

1. Prince.  The royal single-monikered one was born epileptic and suffered a lot of taunting at school.  He’s obviously come a long way since!  I submitted “Let’s Go Crazy” in my 4-play but Craig subbed in a collaboration with Stevie Nicks which was fine by me!

2. Lindsay Buckingham.  He was born with a mild form of the disease, but still manages to tour with Fleetwood Mac.  Good on him!  I chose “Go Your Own Way”.

3. Adam Horovitz.  This Beastie Boy is sensitive to flashing lights, which I am sure they use in their stage show.  It certainly didn’t seem to hold him back from massive success.  For this 4-play I chose “Sabotage”.

4. Neil Young.  He was medicated for epilepsy as a child, but didn’t like the side effects of the meds, which can go all over the spectrum depending on you and your meds.  Neil chose to make lifestyle changes instead, and has lived without medication since!  And, obviously, rocked the world.  Good on you Neil.  I used “Rockin’ in the Free World”.

Epilepsy scares a lot of people when they see a seizure happen.  Don’t be scared, but if you want to learn more, check out some of these links.

http://www.epilepsyontario.org/

http://www.epilepsy.ca/en-CA/Epilepsy-Canada.html

http://twitter.com/#!/EpilepsyOntario