Seven Quick Takes: Bioethics and Knitting!

-1-

Hi! Tomorrow is St. Dominic’s Day! YAYYYY!

The Virgin Mary with St. Dominic and St. Hyacinth

So pray the rosary today, because the DOMINICANS GOT IT FROM MARY. :) One of the reasons I love being a Dominican!

-II-

Sometimes I talk about bioethics here. Today is a crash course.

One of the things I get a lot of is, “Does the Church [The Catholic Church] permit organ transplants and organ donation?”

Quick answer: Yes.

“What about from brain dead people?” (aka, neurological criteria)

Answer: yes

This…is a point of contention for some Catholics.

The National Catholic Bioethics Center talks about this all in detail. Here, to make it one-stop shopping, I am listing the following for you!:

organ donation: Church documents, Ethics & Medics, FAQ and Summaries, podcasts, Press Releases and News, Statements, book store items

the most important, and probably useful thing, to most of you, is this: FAQ On the Determination of Death Using Neurological Criteria.

-III-

So, if you don’t want to read all that…..cut and paste!

What is brain death?

“Brain death” refers to the medical judgment that a person is dead, determined by neurological criteria. Properly diagnosed, brain death means the complete cessation of all organized neurological activity throughout the entire brain, including the cerebrum, cerebellum, and brain stem. When all brain activity has ceased, the body irrevocably ceases to function as a unified whole. The appropriate phraseology here is “the determination of death using neurological criteria.”

It is appropriate to use this criteria?

The customary criteria for determining death are "cardio-pulmonary," i.e., death is declared after breathing and heart-beat cease. Technological advancements in critical care, however, have made continued circulation and respiration possible through mechanical means even after brain function has ceased. The use of neurological criteria for the determination of death can be legitimate according to the Catholic Church. In an address he gave to the [18th International Conference of Organ Transplant Specialists][1] in August 2000, Pope Saint John Paul II observed that their application, if rigorous, “does not seem to conflict with the essential elements of a sound anthropology.” He further stated that “a health-worker professionally responsible for ascertaining death can use these criteria in each individual case as the basis for arriving at that degree of assurance in ethical judgement which moral teaching describes as ‘moral certainty.’ This moral certainty is considered the necessary and sufficient basis for an ethically correct course of action.” Neurological criteria consist of three basic signs: deep coma or unarousable unresponsiveness, absence of cerebral and brain stem reflexes, and apnea. Pope Pius XII and Pope John Paul II both said the Church has no competency in determining death; this properly belongs to medical science. [1]: http://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/speeches/2000/jul-sep/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_20000829_transplants.html

Can a Catholic receive an organ transplant?

Yes, a faithful Catholic may receive organs from a donor who is declared dead by neurological criteria. A faithful Catholic may also make provisions for the donation of his own organs in the event of his death whether it is determined by cardio-pulmonary or neurological criteria. Reasonable doubts about the rigor with which the determination of death would be made, however, may warrant caution.

Now, note that last part. In some places, like China, organ harvesting takes place in, um, less that salubrious ways. (To put it REALLY mildly.) So yeah, if you’re in a. place where there was be questions about this…..then yes. You can ask. You can say you don’t want a transplant.

I can say, myself, that if the Church said no to transplants, I would not have gotten one. Full stop. End of discussion. I’m dead serious. (Really, dead serious, because I would’ve…been dead! Oh, my black humor sometimes.)

-IV-

OK I think we’re done with the serious now. :) But yes, the Church, like the rabbi said in Fiddler on the Roof, has a position on everything! :)

(In Fiddler, it’s, “Rabbi, Is there a blessing for the Czar?” “There is a blessing for everything my son!…May God bless and keep the czar….far away from us!” )

Check the Catechism. In fact, you do have a Catechism at home, right????? (Because seriously, you should.)

-V-

I didn’t do a yarn along this week, but next week! Yarn! But here’s a peek at Patty’s baby blanket….

-VI-

If you want a signed book, email me; they’re $20 and include a book mark, prayer card, AND shipping! It’s time to start thinking about Christmas! :) :) I also have an ebook!

-VII-

Book club is still happening! My BGLs have been nuts so it’s sort of thrown off the schedule, but it you want to jump in, you can! All the previous videos are on my Facebook page. On Tuesday we’ll be meeting at 3:00 EST!

Seven Quick Takes--bits and pieces AND FOOD

-1-

So I made this recipe from Smitten Kitchen his week. If you’re like me, you want to eat more veggies but you don’t want to make “salad” or, when it’s this hot, roast vegetables. So this one is perfect! It’s a great side and it literally takes about 10 minutes to prep. I did get sumac from the store in a tiny container—I’ve seen other recipes that use it but that’s fairly rare. But, since I like this recipe, I might have to invest in a larger container of sumac!

I also made chicken gyro salad for lunch yesterday. This is another way to eat more veggies and healthy things and it’s easy. I don’t have a grill, so I prepped the chicken the night before, and then set my oven to 350 and cooked the chicken for 30 minutes. I also used plain ol’ chicken breasts instead of the thighs the recipe called for and didn’t use pitas, but I used pita chips to serve with the tzatziki (which is one of my favorite summer snacks and so good for you!)

(If you’re bored, click the Surprise Me! button on the smitten kitchen website [at the top] and see what fun things pop up!)

-2-

Since St. Martha’s feast day was on Wednesday, I give you: St. Martha and the Dragons

(Really, St. Martha needs more love!)

Vermeer, Christ in the house of Mary and Martha

-3-

As you’re reading this, I might be receiving sacraments! A good friend of mine is a Dominican friar and while he’s home for vacation, he offered to bring me the Eucharist and hear my confession, and also give me anointing of the sick (because why not?). So I was insanely grateful because I have not had any sacraments since March, which is the longest I’ve gone without them in my life. (Yes, lots of italics, sorry not sorry.) So I am very, very thankful for his offer! Right now, the diocese is “still working” on how to bring sacraments to people like me….apparently it’s hard? (I know we want to be safe vis-a-vis the virus, but….it’s also very hard to go without the sacraments!)

Here in Ohio the requirement to attend Mass is still abrogated until September (not sure of the date, I think it’s mid-September?). I do want to go back and I keep thinking about it. What I might do is go every other week, to start? Or once a month? Not sure. Or maybe every three weeks. I like every two weeks better, honestly… and with social distancing and mask wearing and no sign of peace, this is actually safer for me probably than a normal Mass!

-4-

Next week in the Yarn Along there will be a cardigan update! Yay! And also details on this guy…

Isn’t she pretty?

-5-

I’m also re-doing the watercolor class I took a few years ago. Since I have all this time, I might as well use it, right? Fortunately I have a lot of paints here (So I don’t have to go out to top up my palette!) and a sketchbook that’s mostly free—I don’t buy tons of sketchbooks at a time, so I generally only have the one I’m currently using. It’s also a nice way to deepen my watercolor and sketching skills. I’d also like to take the teacher’s foundational sketching class, but I gotta save up for that.

-6-

Reading: working on Pride and Prejudice. I haven’t been reading much lately which is a total BOO EMILY moment! I’m thinking Friday night will be a Pride and Prejudice read night. I did read Sense and Sensibility earlier this month, and Mansfield Park will be next up after P&P.

-7-

HOCKEY IS BACK!!!!! The Pens had an exhibition game on Tuesday—which they lost, but I don’t care because hockey is back— and they play the Canadiens in a best of five series starting Saturday. The Blue Jackets play Boston in an exhibition tonight, and they play Montreal starting Sunday. Basically, the NHL is gonna be like March Madness, and it’s gonna be glorious.

via GIPHY

Seven Quick Takes--Trust Verses

-1-

A slightly different 7QT than usual….

First, what I wrote this week:

“Comparisons are Odious”

A Wednesday Notebook on a Monday!

-2-

Botticelli, “Madonna of the Book”

OK so the first piece—on comparisons—is sort of what inspired this entry. There’s a lot of stress going around. A Lot of worry. And I know about worry and stress. BUT I am also a big believer in the fact that we need to trust in God and His good provision and plan for us.

So this week I want to give you some Bible verses on Trust. Some of these I will make up into pretty things you can download! But I have a doctor appt. .today that I have to get ready for, so for right now, you’re getting the verses and that’s that. :)

Some of these are also hope-tinged—the relationship of trust and hope is a tight one.

-3-

This first one is my favorite, and what really inspired me to begin having wholehearted trust in God:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

—Romans 15:13, NIV

-4-

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?…No, in all those things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, not powers, not heights, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

-Romans 8:35, 37-39

-5-

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

-Proverbs 3:5-6

-6-

 This I know, that God is for me.
 In God, whose word I praise,
    in the Lord, whose word I praise,
 in God I trust; I am not afraid.
    What can a mere mortal do to me?

Psalm 56:9-11

-7-

 For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you.  When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

Jeremiah 29: 11-14

And bonus tip on something I’ve learned? That when we pray, pray for God’s will to be done. Because as we see here, his plan is better than anything we can come up with. Even if we want something good, it might not be in God’s plan for us to have it.

I hope these verses give you some restored trust and hope during this crazy time!

Seven Quick Takes--Fifteen years, and a signed book sale!

-1-

On the blog this week:

COVID and lung function!

-2-

The big news is that it’s my fifteenth transplant anniversary!

via GIPHY

Fifteen years, folks!

As I write this, 15 years ago it was my last day with my “old” (or factory original?) model lungs. It was a long, hot, HOT day. (Hot like this summer has been hot) I woke up feeling very, very, tired and very beat. I ended the day feeling….well, mixed feelings.

It’s always mixed feelings, right? Because for me to live, Suzanne—my donor—died. She died of a brain aneurysm and her brother gave the OK for her organs to be donated, and she saved my life.

I will repeat the call I repeat every year. If you are not an organ donor, please, be one? Every major religion supports organ donation. (Yes, including the Catholic Church….) If you have any questions, here are some FAQs.

-3-

Here’s a list of what’s happened in fifteen years:

Both my siblings got married

My parents celebrated their fortieth wedding anniversary, and my grandma turned 90!

My godson graduated from college

I have a new goddaughter!

I wrote a book…..(more on a special sale a bit further down)

I’ve been able to do some pretty awesome theater

I’ve made new friends and traveled to new places

I did that Jeopardy thing

I’ve traveled to lots of states—traveling was so hard pre-transplant!

I became a Lay Dominican

I wrote an ebook

I’ve spent time with people—family, friends, new family and new friends!

And really, time is the important thing. That’s the gift.

Winning trivia night

My first hockey playoff game!!! (And they won!)

Me and Di at Christmas

Visiting Williamsburg has definitely been one of my favorite things. And learning to knit with the wool of these sheep!

Mel and I on the beach on Galveston

-4-

OK, so not 7 today, four but we’ll end with: SIGNED BOOK SALE!

Until Sunday at midnight EST (7/12/20), I’m selling SIGNED copies of Living Memento Mori for $15! That’s $5 off the regular price. You get shipping, inscription of your choice (as in I’ll dedicate it to someone or to you!), and a specially designed prayer card and bookmark!

Want one? Email me!

Have a great weekend everyone!

COVID and Lung Function (ie, you can recover lung function!)

One of the things I keep seeing about COVID is that people recover but have a loss of lung function. And every time I see this, I roll my eyes.

Here’s why.

(For new folks: I have CF, I had a double lung transplant 15 years ago. Pulmonary issues are my bag.)

So, let’s talk about lung funciton.

There are actually different types of lung function, but the type most people are probably talk about it spirometry, which is how much air your lungs can hold, and how much you can blow out in a second. It diagnoses various things and it can tell how much function you have—ie, how many liters of air you can get in your lungs, ie, a percentage.

So, right now, my lung function is about 54%. For me, this is good. This is where I’ve been pretty much since transplant.

Lungs are essentially really strong balloons. If you have normal lungs (ie, not CF lungs), then when you get sick with something like pneumonia, you do lose some lung function. For example, when I had pneumonia a few years ago, my lung function dropped to about 30%. Now, it’s not at 30%—it’s at 54%. Your lungs do recover, just like any other cells in your body. Damaged cells out, new cells in.

As you get older, obviously, this process slows down, and if you’re a smoker, you’re ruining your lungs all the time, STOP IT.

For something like COVID, yes, you will lose lung function initially. We don’t know enough about it to see if this lasts permanently, but my guess is that it doesn’t. Lungs do take awhile to recover. They just do. It’s part of their charm. (Not.) But unless you have CF, which impedes the lungs from healing, then you’re going to be fine, eventually. And even my old, crappy CF lungs recovered to an extent, even after I’d been in a medically induced coma, on a ventilator, for two weeks.

So, if my old crappy lungs could do that, yours can too!

Losing lung function is not the end of the world. Even with 21% lung function, I was in college, I double majored, I had an internship. You can live on it. The problem for a lot of you will be that you’re used to having really good lung function and suddenly it’s gone.

It will—most likely—come back. You have to be patient with the process.

So when I see people freaking about losing lung function, I want to tell them to relax. It will come back. The fact that you’re alive is a miracle, to quote Hamilton. You can get lung function back. It does happen—pretty much all the time, folks. There are also things like pulmonary rehab, which can help you gain back lung function via exercise. There are ways!

So, if you get COVID and you recover, your lungs will recover too. Give them time.

Seven Quick Takes--Welcome July!!!!! (And a baby!!!)

-1-

Welcome, July!!!!

Fireworks at Colonial Williamburg

Gosh, I’m so glad we’re in July. Yayyyy July!

So much to talk about today!!!

-2-

OK first, WELCOME TO MY NEW GODDAUGHTER!

Patricia Mary

6/30/20

7 lbs 15 oz.

She’s my cousin’s daughter, and my first goddaughter! She was born on our grandma’s 90th birthday, and, coincidentially, has the same name as our Grandmother—full name, I mean. The Patricia was for my grandmother, but the Mary is also our grandmother’s middle name!! So how nice is that? Grandma got a pretty awesome present!

You can’t tell in the photos, but she’s a ginger, like her mom!

So she’s been in the hospital for a few days because they had to make sure she tested negative for COVID after a few tests. She’s passing with flying colors though so yay! My cousin can nurse her but she has to gown up because she actually tested positive for COVID—even though she has no symptoms. BIZARRE.

Anyway, I hope by the time this is live, they’re able to go home!

She’s the fifth child in my cousin’s family. They have two daughters—Susie and Bridget—and two boys—Frankie and Johnny. Bridget, in particular, is very happy to have another sister!

So, yes, as her godmother, I am going to spam you all with photos of her because that is my job as godmother.

(And to spoil her rotten….)

-3-

(OK she’s ADORABLE, RIGHT?!?!!?)

I already have a godson, who will be 23 this year. So I’m really happy to have another godbaby, and my first goddaughter. It’s so fun to spoil the littles. Not that I couldn’t spoil my godson, but it’s harder since he’s all grown up and I can’t pay him $1 to see if he knows his prayers anymore. :) He recently graduated from the University of Pittsburgh (A semester early!), so yes, I am insanely proud of him too. :)

-4-

So it’s Fourth of July Weekend! I recommend watching Gettysburg, John Adams, and 1776! (SIT DOWN, JOHN!)

via GIPHY

Also reading John Adams, The Killer Angels, and 1776 are great reads for July, especially the latter. For kids, the Felicty series from American Girl is great for learning about colonial history, and I also really like the Revolutionary War series from Laurie Halse Anderson, told from the perspective of a young slave girl, Isabel, and her friend, Curzon. This is fabulous trilogy: Chains, Forge, and Ashes. (and these are also great books for adults, too! Anderson is a great writer.) Learning history is so important and fiction is a great way to spark interest and learn things!

-5-

Also, reading the Declaration of Independence is a good idea….

-6-

I’ve never been a huge fireworks person, but I did top this with a picture of the CW fireworks because….awesome, right?

-7-

And finally, if you missed the posts from this week, here they are:

There are sleeves on the cardigan!

Glorious Scars

A New Review of Living Memento Mori!

Seven Quick Takes--the June Finish Line!!!!

-1-

OK so first, here’s a lovely interview I did with my friend and fellow author Andrea Green Burton!

-2-

Oh my goodness folks. It’s been Doctor Month around here, but I am so glad to be done. Done done DOOOOOONE!

A picture of the New Resort!

Behold, the NEW RESORT.

My new clinic is beneath the walkway bridge you see in this photo on the left. Hi clinic! :)

So, last week I had my first round of Yearly Transplant Testing at the new resort. This was not here, it was at another building slightly off campus. (OSU is very very large)

Here’s what I had done:

PFTs—spirometry (aka, basic PFTs where we check how much lung function I have), a gas diffusion test (which tells you how various gasses diffuse in my lungs and such) and another test called “the box” (where you sit…in a box), and to be honest I’m not entirely sure what that does. I want to say it measures tidal volume or something like that, but I only do it once a year, so….

I met a new respiratory tech (RTs). She was nice. At the time I didn’t know this, but now I know that my PFTs and chest X-rays and blood work will all be happening at this building, so I ‘ll probably get very familiar with the RTs, infusion nurses (because blood work=port access=infusion clinic!), and radiologists here! The building is pretty nice, and it has food, so that’s a good thing, and free parking.

Anyway, PFTs were fine/good. So yay there.

The Six Minute Walk, which I was sort of dreading. Basically a course of a certain length in a hallway is marked and you just walk around the two cones that mark the ends, doing laps for six minutes while your oxygen saturation (sats) are checked via a pulse ox. I was i the normal range, hallelujah!!!! I was really nervous about this test because, you know, haven’t really been getting out all that much….

Then I had a CT scan, which was fine except for two things—one, they had me move on my stomach for some of them, which was uncomfy because I’m a stomach breather and so I couldn’t really hold my breath that well or that long and they kept doing them back to back, so I couldn’t really catch my breath, and two, they just shoved me back out in the hospital without letting me stop to put my bra back on. WEIRD.

So I had to go into the bathroom and, you know, get dressed again. (I had my shirt on, just not my bra. So, weird.)

-3-

OK so after this, I went to another building for the cardiology tests. I was really early—we were booking it today—but once they adjusted to a patient being early, they took me early. I had an ECHO which I loathe with all my being because it HURTS having someone push a transducer INTO YOUR RIBS. For a half hour!

But we ended the day with an EKG, which was fine. Both these tests were fine. SO YAY WINNING AT LIFE.

via GIPHY

-4-

And then I went and got lunch at a French cafe and sketched! (Yes, I wore a mask. There was no one in the dining room. Everyone was out on the patio or in the little bar because it was a really nice day, so I had the whole dining room to myself and I sketched and had quiche lorraine and a chocolate croissant and it was LIFE.)

via GIPHY

See? NO ONE AROUND. Also social distancing markers!!!!

-5-

OK so, that was Friday, which was also my daddy’s birthday. And then mom’s birthday was on Monday. So here are my cute parents:

and their 41st wedding anniversary is on Tuesday! And that’s also my grandma’s NINETIETH birthday!!!!!

(here’s grandma)

At my sister’s wedding last year in Estes Park, CO.

-6-

OK so lots of parties.

Anyway, yesterday, I had my first appointment at the new lung transplant clinic (pictured above!). It was my same doctor, which was great, and my new coordinator is really nice, so I think we’ll get along just great.

The clinic is….weird. Actually, OSU itself is sort of weird, in that it has these programs, but then it doesn’t have ancillary services that they need. Like, they have a ton of immunocompromised patients, because they have a huge cancer center and transplant section, but there’s no special waiting room for us in the ER.

via GIPHY

So, yeah. Why.

Also, the waiting room is basically in the hospital’s atrium, which also makes me go…..why. That doesn’t seem awesome. It’s also incredibly noisy so it makes it very hard for the hearing impaired like moi!

ANYWAY.

Eventually I will adjust to these things.

So the way it works now is I will still be seen every three months. Clinics are in the afternoon, so a few days before my appointment I’ll go to the other offices in the AM for blood draws, PFTs, and chest x-rays (CXRs). Then I have clinic. And we’ll go from there. I do sort of like not having both on the same day.

I will also meet at least one other doctor in the clinic so that someone else has met me and is familiar with all my specialness! :)

(See: CF. Menopause. CI that counter indicates MRIs. Port. Hearing loss! Anemia! Weird diabetes!)

We asked questions, we got answers, and Dad went with me too so he has also met the new folk and seen the clinic.

Also, there is plentiful parking at this location! YAY!!!!! (and it’s free for patients! DOUBLE YAY!)

So now, I’m done with doctor appointments until like, September, and I rejoice in this, and will now take a long weekend to recover from all the madness of the past month! :)

Seven Quick Takes--Doctor Week

-1-

OK so, this isn’t really going to be a quick takes, I don’t think, it’s really going to be more of a “this is what happened in Emily’s world!” this week. :)

-2-

MONDAY

I contacted my endocrinologist b/c I think, per usual, that we changed too many things about my insulin at one time and it was MAKING ME CRAZY.

Really. It was “Emily hates the world for no apparent reason and also WANTS TO CRY FOR NO APPARENT REASON.”

Not fun.

So yeah, we made a few small tweaky things—as in, we’re just slowing down the insulin train. Hopefully that will help. (And will also help my weight….sigh….because yeah, I HATE gaining weight b/c of insulin adjustments. HATE IT.

-3-

Time to visit my ENT!

While in the waiting room, I snapped this picture!

First, yes, those are lovely old school Resort face masks, because TEDDY BEARS!!!!

Second, that’s how you wear a mask! It must cover your nose! It must adjust to your face!

Please don’t be stupid. If you’re gonna wear a mask, wear it properly.

Anyway, the ENT was fine. Thank goodness, because I’d had a sinus infection during all this and apparently it left nothing but a little bit of “debris” (his word) that we got rid of. Yay!

-4-

Wednesday: Dermatologist! Apparently she wants me to use some sort of cream on my arms. So I’m waiting for that to be delivered, but the good news is that we didn’t see any sort of new skin cancers, so yay there!

-5-

Today was book club. I’ve also been really sore all week because of the new workout I’m doing. It’s ROUGH. I mean it’s hard cardio, so the legs are adjusting, but cranky.

-6-

And finally, (so 6, not 7, takes) tomorrow I have all my yearly transplant tests at the New Resort and I’m a little nervous about that. One, because I don’t know if people will take off their masks to talk to me. Two, I’ll have to explain all sorts of things to these people. Like, my PFTs are generally a little weird. They’ve always been that way. Etc. Third, I’ve actually had respiratory techs yell at me because I haven’t been able to do the tests “properly”. Um…..I’m doing the best I can here!!!!!! So yeah, I’m afraid of new techs.

The tests will take all day (full PFTs, 6 minute walk test—UGH, dreading this—a CT scan, and then an EKG and an Echo.). Afterwards I head to my parents’ so we can celebrate my dad’s birthday!

So that’s it from around here! How are you doing?

Seven Quick Takes--June Is Bustin' Out All Over

-1-

Since it’s Corpus Christi this weekend….

Gosh I love Corpus Christi! Of course I’m not going back to Mass yet. So I’ll have to celebrate at home. I might go back to Mass in July. I have a doctor appointment later this month and we’ll talk about those things.

-2-

From the blog this week

Heart Note

I’ve stopped the Wednesday Notebooks—did you like them? Because I can bring them back. Let me know in the comments!

-3-

Also, one of my perennial favorite posts: The Real Lucy Pevensie

-4-

So this week is sort of the “calm before the storm” in a sense. I had nothing scheduled all week. I’ve enjoyed it. :) Next week, however, it gets a little crazy: I see my ENT on Tuesday and I’m really happy about that because man, do things need checked and cleaned out. I see my dermatologist on Wednesday. And on Friday, I have my yearly transplant tests, but they’re at the New Center, so it’ll be….interesting. I mean the tests are all tests I’ve done before. But it’s new people and a new setting and I have no idea how The Mask Thing will go—because usually, medical professionals take them off so I. can understand them. Will that fly here? No idea. Sigh. I’m a little nervous about that.

Friday is also my dad’s birthday! And then my BIL’s birthday is on the 21st, and Mom’s is on the 22nd, and their anniversary (Mom and Dad’s) is the 30th, and that’s also my grandma’s 90th birthday!!! (And my sister and BIL have their anniversary on Saturday!)

whew!

-5-

The week after I have my first appointment at the New Center. Same doctor, but a much larger team—with more doctors as well, so it’ll really be like my old CF center, where you have multiple docs but there’s one who usually follows you. I will report back on how this goes.

-6-

I’m also adjusting my insulin, and wow, whenever I adjust it, my body gets cranky. I had some sort of bug on Tuesday this week, so that’s why no book club. And I’m hungry. Which is normal when you adjust insulin but it doesn’t make me any happier to know that it’s normal!

-7-

Finally some book business!

If you would like a signed copy: They are $20. Email me here. The price includes shipping and book gooides!

If you have a copy and would like a signed book plate, those are $3. Again, email me. You also get book goodies.

I also have an ebook, Catholic 101, that is $5!

Book Club is on THURSDAY next week because of the various doctor appointments. :) So Thursday at 3:00 on my Facebook Writer Page. Previous book club videos are also there, so you can catch up to your heart’s content!

Seven Quick Takes--I went to the dentist!!!!!

-1-

It’s that kinda time when going to the dentist is considered to be A THING.

So I went to the dentist—my first IN PERSON DOCTOR APPOINTMENT—since this all started. Fortunately, my teeth are in excellent shape, no cavities, and my mouth is behaving.

The reason this is A Thing is because dental health is actually connected to health, in general, which some people don’t know. If you’d heard all the horror stories from my transplant team about dental health they’ve seen, you’d be nervous about missing dental appointments, too!

But, fortunately, teeth are good, and we’re back on a regular schedule.

-2-

The cardigan progresses nicely!

-3-

Just about everything is opening up here, or on the way—zoos and such are the next thing to open, and movie theaters are in there, too. The movie theater in my town is a big economic driver, so it’s been really weird to see it sitting empty for all these months.

Churches are open, but I still haven’t gone. I don’t know if I’ll go until next month—I’m just not sure.

-4-

Here’s a little graphic I made last night. Actually, two of them.

I was re-reading Christy last night—one of my favorites—and these two quotes jumped out at me.

To me, this first quote is essential. We have to decide, every day, how we’re going to live our lives. How we’re going to treat people, how we’re going to bring Christ to people. That can be as simple as a smile, or as complex as being a martyr. What does God want for you? This is something that we each have to listen for in prayer. Not everyone’s way of bringing the Gospel is the same. All the saints are fabulously different, and thank God for that. The variety is what makes us Catholic—worldwide, universal.

Here’s the next one….

-5-

This is a big thing for me. If you’ve read Living Memento Mori, you know that! God can handle our anger. God can handle our fears and our screams and our fury. Engage honestly with God.

If you don’t think this is true—then, like Miss Alice in the book, I’m going to tell you to read Job and to read The Psalms. There’s a lot of crying and despair in those. But what happens?

The Lord lifts David and Job back up.

So, those are two quotes I thought I’d share with you, and I made them pretty! :)

-6-

Book business: If you would like a signed copy, email me. For $20, you get shipping and book goodies included. I can also sign the book to your person of choice, if it’s a gift. If you have a copy and you’d like a book plate and other goodies, email me as well. That’s $3—shipping also included.

-7-

How are you doing? What’s going on in your life?

Seven Quick Takes--ApMaJu 301651

-1-

Do we know what month or day it is? It’s hard to remember at this point, but in June I have a bazillion doctor appointments so I’ll probably start to remember what day it is!

-2-

Around the blog this week:

Wednesday Notebook #11

Review of Living Memento Mori in the Catholic Times!

Also, book club every Tuesday at 3:00 EST on my facebook page! If you want to jump in now, you can! All the past episodes are on the FB page under the “video” tab.

-3-

This sketchbook challenge kicks off on Monday and I am totally into it.

-4-

The cardigan GROWS!!!!! I am so excited to update you on it—that’ll be happening on Wednesday, monthly yarn along day, so keep a look out. Here are all the posts about it so far.

a little tease for you……

-5-

I have a bunch of doctor appointments in June, and I’m nervous about them. Some of them because they’re new people, and I have to break them in. Some of them, because I don’t know what the masking protocol is. Normally I tell people to take off their masks so I can lip read—and they do it. Will they do it now? I have no idea. So that is making me nervous, big time.

Yes, I want people to be protected. But I also want to understand what people are saying. I don’t think you can really grasp how frustrating and upsetting it is until you’ve experienced it yourself—to not be able to really communicate. It’s hard and frustrating and sometimes it’s actually scary, like if I’m in an ER alone.

So—nervous.

-6-

I haven’t been reading and I need to get back to that. There are so many books to read and I want to read but also part of me just wants to veg out—even though I know that’s not the way to be. That’s really been the roughest part of quarantine for me, how different every single day is. And of course my sleep schedule is shot to hell.

-7-

I have (or will have had, by the time this is live) a telehealth appointment with my endocrinologist. Hopefully we can….discuss things? Like, where should my blood glucose levels be? Why are they sometimes wacky and sometimes not? Do I need “rescue” insulin? Do I need to test ketones? Etc. etc. Since it’s a telehealth appt. we can’t test my A1c ( a helpful little number in treating diabetes and gauging how well current treatment is going), so….I guess we’ll get it when I see my (new) transplant team? NO IDEA, because we don’t have a blood draw scheduled then. And blood draws with me are just so fraught anyway. Normally A1c is just a finger stick.

Seven Quick Takes--Live Like Me!

-1-

OK, so my friend Andrea gave me a great idea for this post: About HOW TO LIVE LIKE ME in this time of virus nuttiness! :) So after some book business I will share!

-2-

BOOK BUSINESS :)

The Living Memento Mori book club has kicked off!

You can watch the previous two installments on my facebook page! I’d love to see you at our next meeting on Tuesday, when we’ll talk about chapter three.

Also, my book is on sale at Amazon, so you can get it at a reduced price! Yay!

Also, Ave Maria Press is having a sale!

So you can pick up the book there too!

-3-

OK so, living like me.

One of the things I’ve said in this crazy virus time is that immunosuppressed people like moi actually know how to protect themselves from viruses and things, because we do it all the time.

So now, I shall share my tips with you!

Let’s talk about crowds in general. About people. The first year after my transplant, my team was strict about certain things—no malls in the winter, things like that. I couldn’t go to Mass for the first three or four months post-transplant. Since I’m not almost 15 years out, a lot of those restrictions have eased.

I still don’t really like to fly during flu season and avoid it if possible. But I go to the movies and the mall and all sorts of places. I take precautions. Things like eating from a salad bar, I still don’t do. I try to avoid buffets as much as possible, or, if possible, I try to serve myself first so that I avoid most of the people’s germs getting on the food. These are things I and my family think about. You might not have to think about it, but if you’re worried about the virus, it might behoove you to start thinking about these things and deciding what you are comfortable with—as in, your personal level of risk.

I know people, for example, who, post-transplant, change their clothes if they' are in the hospital for any period of time. I never did that. First off, it would’ve been insanely impractical; I often went from clinic appointments to work. But also, because I was comfortable with that level of “exposure” or “risk.”

So, deciding on your personal risk level is important. And realize that not everyone shares your feelings—and I don’t expect everyone else to live like me! :) But if you want to know my tips, here we go.

-4-

Carry hand sanitizer. Get one of those little key chain things from Bath and Body Works and put hand sanitizer in it. Grab sanitizer whenever you’re in there to stock up on body wash or whatever—it’s almost always on some sort of sale. Then you have a stockpile! I keep one in my desk and also in my purse.

NOW: Here is how you use it.

When you touch things, you use the sanitizer. Touch money? Sanitizer. Use the pen at the credit card kiosk thing at the store? Sanitize. Use the gas pump? Sanitize. Just do it. It becomes a habit. In the hospital rooms at the resort there is a sign that says GEL IN, GEL OUT. That means use the sanitizer gel when you come into a patient’s room, and when you leave it. So think of that. Gel in. Gel out. Clean hands! (You don’t have to use it EVERY TIME YOU TOUCH SOMETHING. You’d go nuts. But use it at various times when you’re in a store. Definitely use it when you leave. Things like that.)

-5-

BRING YOUR OWN WHATEVER

Carry your own pens in your purse, so they’re “clean”, and no one else uses it but you! If you use the pen at the doctor’s office, sanitize your hands after you use it! (Also clean off your cell phone, don’t let other people touch it, and if they do, clean it again. Normally I’m not fanatical about this, but right now, it can’t hurt!)

I have my own Magnificat for a few reasons—because I wanted all the prayers to help me know what the priest is saying at Mass, but now, it’s so I don’t use the communal pew missal! It’s clean! It’s mine! No one else messes with it! Only germs on it are mine. :)

Have tissues in your purse, so that if you have to blow your nose, you can and there you go. :) (Also useful for spitting when you have productive cough—isn’t CF elegant? :-P)

When I fly, I bring wipes, and I wipe down the tray, the seat back, the seat rests, and anything else I’m likely to touch. I am really germaphobic when I fly. Now, who knows, I might be that way at a restaurant.

-6-

Don’t open doors with your hands. Use the handicapped switch plate, if there is one—just bang it with your elbow. Push against doors to open them. Also, if you’re wearing gloves (like regular winter gloves), you’re OK. Basically you want to avoid “high touch surfaces”—if you can’t, then, sanitize and go.

In the bathroom you can try to use a paper towel to open the door after you wash your hands, or just sanitize when you get back to your seat. (B/c not every place has paper towels, but they need to bring them back, since they’re MUCH more effective at removing germs from hands after you wash them than the “air dryer” thing.)

-7-

Demonstrate good germ hygiene. Cough into your elbow. Blow your nose once and toss the tissue. IF YOU ARE SICK STAY HOME PLEASE. This, really, is key. I can do all sorts of things to protect myself, but if you come to church/work/whatever, sick, you are putting people at risk. Please do not be stupid. If you MUST come to work sick, then do whatever you can to avoid infecting others. Don’t sit at he communal lunch table! Cover your cough! Etc.

I am not perfect about all this—ask my mom! :) But I’m still alive 15 years post-transplant so I must be doing something right.

Did I wear masks out and about before? No. Not unless I was on a plane or in a hospital (and even in a hospital under SEVERE duress. I hate wearing them). I do have them—as in, real surgical masks. (I also have cloth ones, thanks to my friend Elizabeth!) I will be wearing them when I go out and I’ll keep a stash in my purse, just like I do with tissues and hand sanitizer.

The whole point of a transplant is to have a life after transplant. I know people who are SERIOUS germaphobes post. They don’t open their windows when someone is cutting grass outside. They don’t open car windows if there’s construction. They’re terrified of leaving their house.

That was never me. The point is to live, but not live stupidly. I try not to do stupid things.

Like I said above, I’m not perfect. But a lot of people are freaking out about being in public with anyone, with touching anything, and I’m going to tell you that there are ways to do it and be safe. There really are. I know because I do it, every day, year in and year out, that don’t involve shutting everything down and never leaving your hobbit hole again. I went to the pool. I went to hockey games. I went to amusement parks.

In short, I had a life.

You can too!

Seven Quick Takes--Fourth Friday of Easter (with a hospital trip but don't panic)

-1-

Happy Fourth Friday of Easter!

This isn’t a resurrection painting; it’s Raphael’s “Transfiguration”, but it’s one of my favorites so I thought I’d share!

-2-

On the blog this week:

A Little Bit Stuck?

Yarn Along: Emily Knits a Cardigan Part two!

Wednesday Notebook #8

-3-

OK, so hospital. That was actually last week but I realized I didn’t write about it, so here we go.

My gallbladder was being stupid and it went on for awhile—like, five days of pain and not-niceness. So my doctor wanted me to go to the New Resort to get it all checked out. So, dad and I did. We needed Dad because he had to push me in a wheelchair. Yes, this was a ruse. I’m sorry. But they wouldn’t allow anyone else with me otherwise, and I needed dad to translate for me, so…..yes. I got to ride.

I just needed bloodwork and an ultrasound, but since this is the NEW RESORT (NR), I didn’t know where everything was, so Dad and I navigated it all right. The signs at NR SUCK. I’m sorry, but they do. We had to ask a few people. Again, thank goodness for dad, because everyone had masks on, so I would’ve been so confused. And also, with six feet, I can’t get close to hear what you’re saying, so that makes it even harder! Anyway!

We got blood, got the ultrasound, came home, and I slept for basically two days. Bliss, let me tell you. (Especially after a week of no sleep!)

The hospital was very quiet, and efficient. There were cordons everywhere so you had to ‘stay on the path’ and at every entrance there were stations where nurses took your temp and gave you a sticker saying you’d ‘passed’, and you got to move on.

The places where I went will soon become quite familiar to me, I felt like I should be introducing myself to these people, saying, “Hi, you’re gonna get to know me well.” I did not. But I did dress nicely! I mean in an outfit!

So that was my big Emily’s Day Out. Everything was fine—I have stones and “sludge”—yes, that is the technical word!—in my gallbladder but whatever. It’s not emergent. So it stays for now.

-4-

Good things about NR: Excellent parking.

Bad things: Signs. They suck. And there’s no paths, like at Current Resort. Where are my green paths and yellow paths and PURPLE PATHS, DANG IT. Where are my wayfinding animals?!

-5-

BOOK CLUB starts next week!

If you need a copy of the book, go here and select your retailer of choice!

The plan for the book club is that we’ll go through each chapter—one chapter a week. I’ll expound on some themes, answer your questions, and give you some behind the scenes goodies, if there are any that are applicable!

Also, if you have read the book, please leave a review on Amazon and Goodreads? Thank you!

Oh, and if you’re on Goodreads, add the book to your shelves also!!!! Thank you! :)

-6-

Let’s see what else….how about fun yarn?

Quince and Co. Crane in Aquilla

-7-

I just read A Circle of Quiet, one of Madeleine L’Engle’s journals, and I highly highly highly recommend. Go get it!

Seven Quick Takes--Second Friday of Easter (and BOOK CLUB!)

-1-

What a week!!!

So my body has decided it needs to misbehave….so I’ve got a sinus infection and my gallbladder is acting up, but since the last place we want me right now is a hospital (and I do not one to go to one), we’re trying to treat at home. The cipro I’m on for the sinus infection is really knocking it out, thank goodness, but the gallbladder issues are a bit harder. OH WELL.

-2-

(Because people always ask—yes, I am on cipro. I’m on a lot of antibiotics prophylactically, which means to keep me from getting sick—I’m basically the human version of a chlorinated pool—so that when I get an infection, we have to use Big Guns to knock it out.)

-3-

Around here this week:

Wednesday Notebook #6

And the big Ave Maria Spring sale continues! My book is available for $9! (The sale ends next week, on the 30th, so hop to it!)

-4-

Also!

Take Up & Read is going to begin studying our first book, Consider the Lilies, on Monday—and we’ve made it available in a digital format!

We’ve never done a digital copy of our studies before—normally, they are published by Amazon. But with the pandemic, it’s hard to get our studies right now, so we decided to make Consider the Lilies available digitally!

This is the perfect study for right now. Do you feel lost? Confused? Upset? Wondering where God is in all this mess? Then you need this study. It’s a beautiful one!

I hope you’ll join us! Here’s all the information you need.

-5-

OK SO BOOK CLUB!!!!

KICKS OFF MAY 13!

3:00 PM EST on my facebook page (link above).

We’re doing one chapter a week: here is the schedule.
Check back on Monday for more!!!!

-6-

I’ve started research for my next book!!!! It’s exciting! It’s about saints who were single—single in the world, not single like priests and nuns. So I’m researching and getting to know these saint friends, and how they found their purpose, which I think is important for singles now. As you know, if you’ve followed me for awhile, I have Thoughts! :)

-7-

How are you doing? Any prayer requests? Concerns? Need to talk? Drop your thoughts in the comments!

Seven Quick Takes--Easter Friday

-1-

HE IS RISEN! Wooooo!

Let’s try to party as much as we can? OK?

-2-

Little bit of business first—Ave Maria Press is shipping books again, and my book is on sale!

The book’s sale price is $9, so grab a couple, stock up! Or buy some other great books—Joyful Momentum , Pray Fully, and Giving Thanks and Letting Go, are other great reads!

-3-

On the blog this week:

Wednesday Notebook #5

Emily Knits a Cardigan!

-4-

Whew, I feel like I have a lot of things to tell you, but I don’t know if I really do! :)

My birthday was last Thursday—Holy Thursday. Obviously we didn’t “go” to Mass. I watched Bishop Barron’s Mass from Santa Barbara—his Masses are captioned, so that’s why I watch those in particular.

There was cake….

There was mucho birthday yarn….

There were other gifts, too, but I didn’t take photos so I’ll have to talk about them next week. :) Maybe I’ll do a whole birthday post so we can have some fun?

-5-

And Easter was weird, too…..I mean, no Mass, for starters. I did watch a Vigil recording at my home parish. BUT—IT IS STILL EASTER. So even though it’s not what we’re used to, the Resurrection still happened. :) We are still Easter people!

-6-

(LONG!)

A couple things that I’ve been thinking about—If we’re all going to be wearing masks for the near future, I, and other hearing impaired folks, are massively screwed, because we read lips. (Well, some of us do!)

Can I just ask—if someone asks you to pull your mask down when you’re talking to them, can you step back and do that? Because otherwise, I really have no idea what you’re saying. In hospital settings my doctors and nurses don’t wear masks, because we end up having a “What did you say?” marathon. It’s just not practical. I’ve seen some pieces that have talked about face time calls or having someone with you to “translate.”

Massive sigh.

Guys. First off, if I had to bring one of my parents to every doctor’s appointment I had, they’d go nuts. And they can’t go to every one. Second, this denies me my agency. I hate to say that because it’s sounds so jargon-ish, but people need to talk to me, not the other people with me. ME. THE PERSON, THE PATIENT.

There are, apparently, masks with clear sections around the lips for lipreading in development. They have to be FDA approved, for starters. And then put into production. And honestly, I don’t think they’re going to be produced for a while yet, because they’re just not a priority.

It is already hard enough for me to get hospitals to email me or talk to people who aren’t me because I can’t use the phone. But if mask wearing becomes super en vogue, a lot of us are really screwed, and I’m going to be either having meltdowns in stores, or I’ll be answering all the wrong questions and looking like an idiot.

I’m trying not to freak out about something that might not happen. But I would ask you all to be aware—if you’re talking to someone and it seems like they’ve really lost the plot, and you’re wearing a mask, chances are they’re hearing impaired.

Oh, and also—and this is just in general—if I ask you to repeat yourself, please do it. Don’t huff about it or be annoyed about it. Just repeat yourself. You don’t need to start with “I said.” And also DO NOT SAY YOU SAID NOTHING. You clearly said something.

-7-

On that note….happy Friday? :) I’ve been watching a lot of the Met Opera live streams. If you’re an opera fan, be sure to check it out. If not, check it out! Tonight is Madama Butterfly, super popular, and a great first opera! Also, this is a gorgeous production.

Seven Quick Takes--5th Friday of Lent

linking up with Kelly!

-1-

Post from around here this week:

Yarn Along

Wednesday Notebook

-2-

And a bit of business: The Living Memento Mori ebook sale is still going on at Ave Maria Press!

-3-

So this week…..whew. It wasn’t a bad week, but there were some hard days. I’m just trying to take each day at it comes, as we all do! My days do have a rough “shape” to them—mostly around the Liturgy of the Hours, and I am doing basic chores and things like that, just to keep myself sane. But I miss my people!

-4-

My birthday is next week, and it’s basically the highlight of the month for me, since the governor has said that the stay-at-home order will be in effect until May. We all sort of figured that was coming. My birthday is also Holy Thursday and it will be beyond weird not to be at church for those celebrations. I’ve always loved the triduum. (I was born on Good Friday, it’s in my nature!) But my parish will be streaming their Masses, so it’s not like I can’t see them. It’s just weird, like so many other things these days.

-5-

I did, however, discover the wonder that is Tiger King. Man. I needed some of that absurdity.

-6-

We’re having a proper spring here in Ohio, which is nice. Sometimes we skip spring and go right to summer. But the days have been nice enough to leave the windows open, and the tree outside Orchard House is getting the pink buds on it. :) I love my hawthorn tree.

-7-

Finally, I leave you with Crookshanks in Quarantine Photos (which are explained in my yarn along!)

Seven Quick Takes--Fourth Friday of Lent

-1-

We’ll start with some business. :) First, if you have read my book, please leave a review on Amazon! That helps more people find it (the more reviews, the more it shows up in Amazon “related items” or whatever.)

Second, Ave Maria Press is having an ebook sale, and Living Memento Mori is part of it!

-2-

Last week, as you know, I wrote all about Billy. You have probably seen the post from Monday, where I wrote about his death. Thank you, again, for all the comments, thoughts, and prayers for my friend, her husband, and their little boy. It’s so comforting to know that people are, as Anne Frank said, “really good at heart.”

-3-

Here in Ohio, we’re basically shut down. We’re told to stay inside unless it’s an essential thing—like, you must work, or get groceries or food, or things like that. We can go out to exercise, as well, sot hat’s helpful. But just going out to go out and in groups is, um, discouraged highly. I live alone, so most of my days are spent in my own company, but the hardest thing is not being in contact with people—no hugs. No touching. It’s rough. I mean I’m not a hugely touchy-feely person, but I do like parental hugs! And I haven’t had any in a month (or thereabouts). Sigh. Oh well. It could be worse.

-4-

The knitting is a lot of comfort knitting—I went into my stash and broke it down into types of yarn and then projects I can do with each type. Right now I’ve got two garter stitch scarves going and I’m going to make some washcloths with the stash of cotton dishcloth yarn I have here—why I bought so much, no idea. But knitting keeps my hands busy and it’s nice to have the feeling of getting something done and working on a project with a definitive, easy to see end! :)

-5-

I dunno if we really need more memento mori art, but here’s one of St. Catherine of Siena:

-6-

As far as churches go, we’re shut down at least through April 6, which is Palm Sunday. I would bet that there won’t be public celebrations of Holy Week, which is just….weird. I mean, weirder then Mass not happening publicly. I am very much hoping for streaming services for these. The Triduum liturgies are so beautiful! And my birthday is on Holy Thursday this year! That’s always special and to not have the Mass is just….again, weird. That’s really the only word I can use right now. WEIRD.

-7-

What are you reading, writing, doing, cooking—whatever-ing—during this time? Share your ideas in the comments!

Seven Quick Takes--Billy

-1-

OK, I have a really freaking great story to tell all of you, if you don’t know it already, but first business: Ave Maria Press is having an ebook sale and my book is included! So go get it!

-II-

OK so, it’s story time.

My Bestest Friend, Tiffany, and her husband, Bill, are some of the nicest people in the world. I won’t say the nicest people because I haven’t met everyone in the world. :)

I have known Tiffany since September of 1996, when we were seated next to each other in Theater I at PHS. (Alphabetical last names). And we just hit it off.

One of her best gifts is that she is absolutely calm and chill about everything. I had to do my treatments in front of her while we were on choir tour? No biggie. I’m injecting myself with insulin? Whatever. I’m in the hospital? OK, cool, can I come visit? She always treated me absolutely normally.

I spent a lot of summer days at her parents’ house, eating dinner with them, even going on vacation with them. We’ve seen Broadway shows together, we have inside jokes…(“Zazu, why am I not….loved?”)

Me and Tiff.

Her husband, Bill, is the perfect person for her. I was so happy when she met him (one of our friends fixed them up, thanks Gary!) and they got married, because he’s such a wonderful guy, and she deserves a wonderful guy!

We’ve been friends for almost twenty-five years.

-III-

So, when Tiff and Bill were expecting their first baby, I was thrilled for them. A baby! YES!

And we were all excited….until he got a really bad diagnosis. So bad that he wasn’t expected to live very long after birth.

Tiff and Bill decided that it didn’t matter—they were going to love on him as long as they had him. They took him places (the zoo, the aquarium, the symphony, the movies), read to him, played music for him, and wrote him letters in journals that they each kept. They wanted to make as many memories as possible with him while he was inside Tiffany and alive.

They named him—Billy the IV. :)

His birthday was set to be St. Patrick’s Day. He has encephalocele, and they didn’t want to risk Tiff going into labor, so Billy was a scheduled C-section.

They arranged for their pastor to be there to baptize him. In the midst of all the virus craziness, the hospital allowed their parents and siblings to come, because they knew time would be short.

-IV-

But.

He didn’t die.

He lived.

And is still living.

-V-

Billy is eating. He’s sleeping, he’s grasping his daddy’s finger, he looks at his mommy’s face when she coos at him. He yawns and gives us looks of disdain. :)

-VI-

They get to take him home. They get to be parents! At home! Something they didn’t think they’d ever get to do!

I told Tiff last night that I’d never prayed for someone as much as I’d prayed for them and Billy. My prayer journals are full of notes about Billy and his parents, and really desperate prayers for them, for healing, for peace, for…everything, really.

I’ve written many times, including in my book, that God is not a vending machine. Prayer is not a vending machine. We don’t get to say God is good only when he gives us what we want.

God is always good, even when we can’t see it. God always loves us.

-VII-

But right now, in this period of time when we all need miracles and good news, we have one—we have Billy and his amazing parents. We have a little boy who was supposed to die, and who is living. This time with him is a precious and amazing gift, and the fact that my friends get to take home a baby, A LIVE BABY, something they didn’t think they’d get to do, is cause for praise to God.

This morning, Billy was taking a nap with his dad. Something that countless babies do—that I did—that you probably did, with one of your parents. But a priceless gift to them.

God is being very good to us.

I shall not die, but I shall live,
    and recount the deeds of the Lord.

—psalm 118:17

Billy the IV with Bill the III

Illness & Piety

The second station: Jesus Carries His Cross

A lot of dioceses are dispensing their Catholics from attending Mass; some are shutting their churches completely. It’s a strange time to be Catholic in America—what do we do without Mass?

We know that we are required to attend Mass unless we are sick, find ourselves really far from Mass, or for other big reasons (you’ve got a sick kid and you have to stay home to take care of her). Not attending Mass is a mortal sin, but, like all mortal sins, that means there are three criteria for it: Grave matter, full knowledge, and deliberate consent.

If you live in a diocese where the bishop has dispensed you from attending Mass, you’re not committing a mortal sin if you don’t go. We don’t know a lot about this virus. What we do know is that a person can have zero symptoms and be contagious! That’s scary.

Even before the dispensation came down from Ohio’s Catholic bishops, my transplant team had told me that they didn’t want me going to Mass. Was I super pleased with this idea? No. Am I listening to them? yes.

To me, this is very like life right after my transplant. I didn’t attend Mass for three months, because I was severely compromised. To go would not have been a good thing. (And also, it was an uncomfortable thing. Most Catholic churches have wooden pews. When you weigh 90 pounds, your bones really feel that wood, let me tell ya.)

I am being obedient to my doctors, and not going. My health is important and I know they want what is best for us.

I’ve seen some people talking about how our physical health isn’t more important than our spiritual health. This is true—but, that doesn’t mean that we should be reckless. There are saints who were told not to do so many penances, that they were being too hard on their bodies. It’s a balance.

I am NOT suggesting that we skip Mass just for the fun of it. I am saying that at this time it’s important to think about other people at Mass. (And really, all the time…)

People like me aren’t going. But that doesn’t mean that there won’t be people at Mass who take care of immunocompromised people, or work with them. If they get sick, that’s a big problem. So let’s remember basic good practices.

If you’re sick, don’t shake hands at the sign of peace! Use hand sanitizer. Cover your cough. Leave some space between yourself and other parishioners, so you don’t run the risk of getting them sick. If you have the flu, stay home!

The criteria I use to determine how sick I am is thus: If I would miss work, then it’s fine for me to stay home. If someone said, let’s go to Chuy’s, and I wouldn’t go because I feel awful, then I’m sick enough to not go to Mass.

I can see why some bishops are closing churches—because people aren’t doing what is right and prudent. They’re going to Mass and spreading germs everywhere, in flu season, all the time. This is not cool, folks. Use the best practices I outlined above all the time, not just now!

Also, Masses still happen with out a congregation. Carthusian monks, for example, say Mass everyday without a congregation. I imagine that priests will still say Mass, even if the church is empty.

So, what can you do if your dioceses has shut your churches, or if you are staying home from Mass?

• We can make a spiritual communion. This is important!

• We can read the Mass readings (Magnificat is offering its app for free right now—daily Mass readings and devotional readings every day!)

• We can pray the rosary, or parts of the Liturgy of the Hours.

• We can perform spiritual reading.

In this time, you might want to check on your neighbors who are sick or older, and see if you can do anything for them to help them out. Maybe you could pick up their groceries for them or something, or put gas in their car.

Just because we can’t get to Mass doesn’t mean that we can’t still practice our faith. Yes, the Mass is the source and summit of our lives. Yes, it’s vital.

But sometimes life intervenes and we can’t worship the way we’d like to. I’ve experienced that a lot in my life.

St. Teresa of Avila once received instructions from God to build her convent somewhere. Her bishop then told her to build her convent somewhere else. Teresa obeyed the bishop, because she knew she owed obedience to him. She said later, when God asked her about this, that she knew her bishop was telling her what to do and she owed him obedience; she might have imagined what God told her to do. (This story was in the book Be Holy. I’m paraphrasing here.)

Keep calm, guys, and carry on—and PRAY. Don’t rage against your bishop and take offense. Pray. If you can go to Mass, weigh if it’s prudent for you and your family. If you go, act responsibly—don’t crowd pews, cover your cough, don’t shake hands at the sign of peace, etc.

The important thing is to pray, even if you can’t get to Mass.

Seven Quick Takes--Second Friday of Lent

Linking up with Kelly!

I took this picture before Mass last week—I couldn’t resist the light.

-1-

On the blog this week:

Virus Lent

-2-
There’s a story about St. Teresa of Avila and Lent that I think is a propos. She once had a great program of Lenten penances planned. She was going to do everything. It was going to be great!

Then she was sick. For all of Lent. And she complained to the Lord about this. “Lord, I had so many great penances to offer you,” etc.

“This is my Lent for you,” He told her.

Looks like, no matter what our penances and plans were, we’re getting the Lent that Jesus wants for us right now.

-3-

Like I wrote in my last post, I’m essentially living like I did right after my transplant—not really leaving my house, people coming to me. I’m not actually opposed to this, but what makes it scary for me is that the world around me is caught up in it, too. Whenever I’ve been sick before, there’s always been some sense of normalcy around me to cling to—school went on, I could go to the movies when I felt better, etc.

Now, nothing’s normal. Here, schools are closed starting Monday. The bishops’ conference of Ohio has dispensed us all from the obligation to attend Mass—and I wasn’t going to do that anyway, on the advice of my doctors. It’s just weird.

Last night after dinner I went and stood on my porch for a minute. It was a lovely night—the sun was setting, it was warm, I could hear the train coming through town. But it felt so eerily calm, like it does before a big storm.

All that to say, that it’s a weird time.

-4-

If you’re in the same boat I am and can’t go to Mass, make a spiritual communion! And also try to keep the Sabbath holy—which we should be doing anyway, but if nothing else, this gives us time to really use Sunday as a day of rest. We all need rest right now! There are no sports to watch, and probably no sports games to go to. There’s nothing else. So let’s bring back the Sabbath! Let’s live it! (book recommendation: Souls at Rest.)

And also, let’s pray with our families! We should be doing that anyway, but let’s bring it back, because man do we all need prayer right now! (Book recommendation: The Little Oratory)

-5-

If we’re doing book recs, um, mine? :)

-6-

So while I’m here in my cloister I’ve made a list of things to do—writing, of course, so there will be ore writing here on the blog! I’m going to do the long awaited Outlander and Catholicism series, so be on the lookout for that! I’ll also be writing about illness and virtue—how we practice faith in times like this—and I’ll be doing a post on St. Damien of Molokai, who seems appropriate right now.

I’m also going to be baking a lot—mostly bread. I’ve been wanting to get in to the habit of making my own bread, and now I have the time to do it….and I also have time to knit like a crazy person. I have all this time…of course there is prayer, also. Lenten practices are still going. And cleaning the house, of course.

-7-

I’ll also be watching a lot of movies, starting with the Hobbit series, because, why not, and also Knives Out, which I never saw in the theaters but am excited to watch now. I have to have some exciement, right?