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I thought you said no.

when I was 29 I had encephalitis.  I was very ill and almost died.  I trembled a lot during this period and had trouble walking and keeping my balance. I still do.  It took a long time for me to be diagnosed with dystonia and it happened very unexpectedly.  I was walking along a hospital corridor when a doctor stopped me.  He asked if I was going to see him and I said no, I was just going for an xray.  He told me to cancel it and go with him.  He was the hospital's top neurologist and he was teaching students that day.  I stood in front of them, totally humiliated and crying as they shot questions at me and the neurologist pointed out relevant symptoms, some of which I was unaware of.   It then dawned on me that this man KNEW what I had been trying to discover for forty years.  He was going to tell me what was wrong.  So I stopped being so precious and feeling sorry for myself and cooperated fully.  I was eventually told I had dystonia.  I was not lazy.  I was not pretending. I did not have parkinsons disease.  Such a huge relief.

you may be wondering about the title.  Because my head shakes so badly people who don't know me think I am shaking my head at them.  This has led to some interesting and sometimes inconvenient situations like bus drivers leaving me standing at the bus stop.

 

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