GIRL DREW
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Sick of medicine. Sick without it.
I had seven voicemails when I returned home from a magical, soul-inspiring trip to Scotland in March. They were all from pharmacies. SEVEN calls about medications. I’d abruptly transitioned from fairyland back to reality. Normally I have a “whatever needs to be done” attitude when it comes to managing cystic fibrosis, but this time anger…
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At therapy this morning…
“At therapy this morning” seems like a quick, somewhat cheap way to capture someone’s attention. But it just so happens to be an accurate line to start the post I’ve come here to write. At therapy this morning, I said today’s date, April 3rd, out loud. I can’t recall the reason, but as the words…
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Auld Lang Syne-0ff
It’s been ten loooong days since I returned home from Scotland. While there, I saw more beauty than I could process. But part of what made the trip so lovely was something very simple: my lack of connectivity. When John and I landed overseas, I turned off my mobile data, and, oh my gosh, was…
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I went to medical school
“Making Death Casual” should be my tagline. Most people don’t want to discuss mortality, but it’s one of my favorite topics. When I talk about death, I’m really talking about life. Yesterday I spent the morning at the Emory School of Medicine. A pulmonologist I love, Dr. Linnemann, was giving a lecture on cystic fibrosis…
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2.7 seconds on a bull named Fu Manchu
Little memories of Ramón pop into my mind on an almost daily basis. Occasionally, though, one will surface from the darkest depths of my mind—things I haven’t thought about since they were present moments. One of these memories emerged last week, and, although it made me emotional, I was grateful for its reappearance. If I…
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In the ring with insurance
Today, as I sit in front of the fireplace, I’m grateful it’s a Sunday. That means most customer service lines are closed, so I can’t feel the urge to call my health insurance provider. Well, I can certainly want to call, but I won’t get an answer—which, in many ways, is a lot like when…
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Cuddle parties and self-care
Have you ever heard of a Cuddle Party? I’m not referring to my status when I’m on the couch in a pile of beagles. Instead, I’m talking about a capital-C Cuddle, capital-P Party, which is a term I recently learned while reading Melissa Febos’s book, Girlhood. Cuddle Parties were created to “promote and enable empowered…
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A shifting miracle
I began drafting this post three weeks ago. I’ve made second and third attempts, but nothing I write feels quite right. Today I decided I’ll just type and post whatever leaves my fingers. However it comes out, I’m sharing for transparency, not pity. In July 2021, I began taking what I touted as a cystic…
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I have done some things
Lately I’ve been in one of those funks where I struggle to give myself credit. I find myself thinking, “I don’t do anything worthwhile,” yet there is plenty of external evidence that proves otherwise. But rather than appreciating what I have done, I keep turning my focus to what I haven’t done. When I fall…
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RIP People-Pleasing Drew
As part of a writing program I’m taking, we were asked to write an obituary to a place or to a former version of ourselves. I opted for the latter. Here’s what I wrote: It is with the utmost liberation that we announce the long-awaited passing of People-Pleasing Drew. Often sacrificing her own joy to…
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Zip it good
Did you know some zippers lock when the pull tab is in the down position? In other words, after zipping, you place the tab down to lock the zipper in place—so the barn door’s not open. I thought of this recently because, soon after I met Ramón, I realized he often had a safety pin…
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Judge Ramón Alvarado ’05
I type this with tears in my eyes. They’re mostly droplets of gratitude that I had the immense pleasure of spending almost a decade of my life with Ramón. But I’ll admit that, today, some are droplets of sorrow, wishing he’d had just a little more time to enrich this world—and, selfishly, my life. One…
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What a fun season
“What a fun season!” I thought last night as my head hit the pillow. I felt satisfied despite the end of the Braves’ playoff run. But that hasn’t always been my approach to sports fandom. Ramón and I used to have Falcons’ season tickets. I’d look forward to going to the games and, on Sundays, I’d…
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I said YES!*
*to an exciting new project! If you do one thing today, follow Love Per DM on Instagram! Here’s why:I’ve written a lot about my life with Ramón, but I’ve not written much about how we met—mostly because the story wrote itself. Well, Ramón and I wrote each other. For the 12 days leading up to…
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Lessons from a sea turtle
As my mom and I walked along the beach one morning last week, I saw movement a few feet ahead. It was a baby sea turtle—a hatchling—flipped on his back along the shoreline. My immediate instinct was to flip him over and help him to sea, but I paused, uncertain if I’d inadvertently cause harm.…