Category Archives: Uncategorized

i thought sleep was hard to come by as a second year duke medical student on rotations but sleep became near impossible as a patient in the hospital. there was a constant stream of nurses in my room all night to give me medicines, water, to turn me in bed to prevent bed sores, orContinue reading “a whole new world”

i remember the first time i looked in a mirror, i started sobbing, more than ever before, because i hated what i saw… my mom had made my hair differently and excitedly pushed me to the mirror to see. but whatever was staring back at me filled my heart with shock, disgust, and anger. iContinue reading “man in the mirror”

(spanish for \’one word\’) the most frustrating, horrible, difficult part of this whole mess was being unable to communicate with the world around me. i just had to let go of all responsibility of the situation around me. the first few weeks, my only response was yes (eyes up) or no (eyes down) which madeContinue reading “una palabra”

\’so is the hospital food as bad as people say?\’ asked my friend innocently. i felt my heart stop for half a second. i was speechless (ok even if i wanted to say something, i couldnt. but i didnt know whether to look up for yes or down for no). i realized i hadnt eatenContinue reading “juicy”

this past weekeend, i had the most incredible birthday possible. i had about 50 wonderful friends, from all the important parts of my life – my childhood, highschool, governors school, duke, and medical school,from all across the country, in my house for a night of laughter and memories. i was laughing til 5 in theContinue reading “a long december (continued)”

so let me pause from my story because i wanted to quickly bring up something thats been on my mind and maybe some of yours. so its been a year, actually exactly a year sunday. never did i ever imagine that after a whole year, i would still be in a wheelchair, that i wouldContinue reading “a long december”

\’You are going to be fine!\’ this is what i heard from all my friends and family. u would think these words of positivity would provide me some comfort or relief, but no, they made me cry more. i didnt understand why. i was so confused for the longest time until a few weeks agoContinue reading “King of Wishful Thinking”

life is just a long string of moments, good moments,bad moments, meaningless moments, and meaningful moments. some moments define us, whether we like it or not. a moment on november 29th when i had a stroke defined me, and now another moment would come to define me… so dr. m would come everyday or everyContinue reading “hanging by a moment”

\’If God will take you to it, God will take you through it.\’ i heard that line one day on the way to therapy when the lady driving my van was listening to gospel station on the radio, and it really stuck with me. yes, god had let this awful thing happen to me, butContinue reading “luck be a lady”

lifeless…motionless…powerless… that was how i felt 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. i needed someone to do every little thing for me like adjusting my legs if they were stiff or moving my arm if it was hanging off the bed. i was completely aware of the world around me, but completely unableContinue reading “powerless”