A lovely essay. I was sorry to hear of your rotten luck with the medical system and glad to hear you're still here anyway. I eagerly await the whole book.

I'd like to take issue, however, with your statement tolerance is a failure to respond. In my experience with impairment and stigma, tolerance has been the willingness to no longer care about responding. It's not that I don't scratch, it's that the mosquito bite no longer itches.

Once tolerance develops, the energy I formerly spent scratching I can now use for spinning, or writing, or making dinner.

I read your essay in the Times magazine section and bought your book as soon as I could. You taught me much more about defibrillators than I knew before I had one implanted over a year ago after cardiac arrest. The doctor's rationale to me for the need of this device was to prevent sudden death. Having been unconscious the night I cheated death 5 times, I asked him what was wrong with suddend death? Sounds like the way most of us would like to go. He was horrified that I could be so self centered not to be thinking of what awful ramifications there might be if I experienced sudden death while driving a car. Well, I've seen a defib. go off and I hope I'm not in a car if mine does.

I loved your book!

I just read the piece from NY Times. I will buy your book ASAP. We are old friends from high school, and I am delighted to have learned of this newest book, though not of your medical challenges. I was visiting Ellen in D.C., and she told me about the book. Be well.

Wow!