Give or take?
published: 2009-11-12A woman emails me.
“hey you i hear you have SD so do i and some other vague dystonias and you know what though when i speak it’s such a joke.”
I email her back, thanking he for her email, telling her a little about myself and asking a few questions. She seems happy at the occasion. She replies rapidly. And keeps doing so. With each reply, her response is more lengthy. She not only has SD, but myoclonic dystonia, a term I have to look up. Most likely hereditary, some of her family members have it too. She wonders whether her sons will develop it. How old is she? 54 she says. It started 13 years ago with only SD. Until 4 years ago, which is when she suddenly developed the other ones. (This part, I would have preferred not to know.)
She tells me she is starting therapy for the anxieties she has developed, mainly because of the shame. I wonder: is her sister, the one who has it too (my sisters don’t, so I won’t, I won’t, I won’t), as afraid? Still she brings all this in lighthearted and casual way. Even how she’s seen every alternative healer you can possibly think of.
“Has SD given you anything?” she asks. I contemplate this question and wonder what to tell her. That my life is really good?
Her last email: “SD has not given me anything. neither have all the other dystonias. i worked in my partner’s company for 10 years haven’t been able to for the past 3. and now end of story.”