🐅 🐅 🐅 tiger tiger tiger for ultimate October; and of course that very odd couple, Halloween and (Protestant) Reformation Day (put on your best witch’s hat and nail some theses to the old church door!)
Musing over the oddities of my life this morning, I recalled a series of unusual medical conditions that suddenly turned up and then passed away: otoliths with (terrible) vertigo, Bell’s palsy, a (benign but quite notable) scrotal mass, that sort of thing. So I set out to list the medically significant conditions of my life, very roughly in chronological order.
So here’s the big list of disorders — which I’m sure is incomplete, because I keep thinking of things I’ve left off, some of which I don’t really have a name for. Conditions marked with * are currently relevant to the state of my body and my life; the others are either events that have passed or conditions currently under control by medication.
inflamed / swollen tonsils and adenoids (excised); measles pneumonitis; chicken pox (varicella); German measles (rubella); scarlet fever (scarlatina); *(acquired) fallen arches / flat feet; *recurrent sinus infections (sinusitis); various epidemic flus; appendicitis, with appendectomy; mononucleosis, or possibly hepatits B; folliculitis; hypothyroidism (medicated); chronic bronchitis; *herniated disk with sciatica; excised and fused; bleeding diverticulitis; necrotizing fasciitis (based on MRSA); *damaged ulnar nerve, right arm, with chronic pain and right-hand disabilities; *implanted titanium hip joint (right side); asthma; *foot-top bunions (hallux vagus), both feet; *dyspnea on exertion; otoliths with vertigo; Bell’s palsy; (benign) scrotal mass; jock itch; UTIs; *erectile dysfunction; Covid-19; *allergies (red rash) to penicillin, sulfa drugs, Vancomycin; cataracts (replaced); *chronic kidney disease; hypertension (medicated); *atrial fibrillation; sleep apnea; *frequent muscle cramping; type II diabetes (medicated); inability to walk any distance without support or to climb steps; colonic polyps (excised); protein in urine; alcohol withdrawal syndrome; *recovering alcoholic; former smoker (many decades ago); *obesity; gouty arthritis (medicated); *osteoarthritis; *frequent urination; *urgent defecation after eating
Some things not listed (I note that there can be some dispute here as to what’s a disorder):
homosexuality (in desire, in practice, and in identity); ability to enter (some) alternative states of consciousness; high sex drive; inability to groove the tongue; lack of Adam’s apple; poor hand-eye coordination; imperfect handedness
And a parade of extraordinary afflictions that beset me during a long period of phased withdrawal from prednisone. May they never return.
[Added 11/1: I have now recollected a huge number of further disorders and afflictions (many posted on in this blog, some more from childhood), so there will be a substantial follow-up posting. How could I have forgotten the bite of the brown recluse spider (treated with azithromycin), or the gallstones (leading to removal of my gall badder)?]
November 1, 2025 at 6:54 am |
inability to groove the tongue
Does this imply an inability to whistle? I have that. Apparently it’s genetic; my father was likewise incapable of whistling, whereas my mother was (and my brother is) a reasonably skilled whistler.
Many years ago, John tried to teach me to whistle, and eventually conceded that my tongue just wouldn’t do that.
November 1, 2025 at 7:21 am |
Exactly my situation, in all details. And yes, standard whistling involves a grooved / curled tongue, as does aimed spitting. And yes, it’s genetic. Then, since grooving is statistically way predominant, inability to groove is often viewed as a defect or disorder, rather than as simply a minority option.