The Author Chooses Not to Go to the Emergency Room

Yesterday the author of ML wasn’t feeling too well. She had (and has) what’s probably a recurrent bout of diverticulitis, a condition when a little pouch stemming from the colon becomes inflamed and causes pain and fever. This can be serious if infection of the colon’s wall progresses, or catastrophic if the colon ruptures.

So I’m thankful, today, among other things that I’m feeling better with antibiotics, extra fluids by mouth and a good dose of rest. I’m glad, also, that I avoided the hospital for evaluation and treatment, as were de rigueur for this ailment 20 years ago. I’m lucky that, so far, I’m doing OK. And I’m reminded that illness is not a metaphor for anything.

Really it’s a crapshoot – hard to know sometimes when it’s worth going to the ER or staying home and enjoying Thanksgiving with your family, as I did.

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