Saturday, April 30, 2011

Challenge Day 30: a vocab lesson

A bookworm from birth, I've always loved words. I even love all of those long awkward medical words those of us with chronic illness inevitably learn. But the final prompt in the challenge I've sometimes been participating in this month is pretty tough. I'm tasked with creating a new word to describe something in MS life that the current lexicon doesn't cover. One of my primary coping mechanisms has always been humor, so it should be no surprise that this little vocab lesson leans in that direction.

muffins?


muffinitis, noun: a condition causing an individual to misspeak due to mental fogginess from MS or medication, best treated with kindness and giggles
"Please forgive me if I say something unusual. I'm not a moron - it's just my muffinitis acting up."

And the story: I often experience some brain fog and/or fuzziness from medication. Sometimes, this brings on some aphasia. I have a great deal of trouble recalling the simplest of words, or worse, I will replace one word with a totally unrelated word without even noticing. Although on occasion I find this to be quite upsetting, it usually is cause for much mirth. My family and I had quite a laugh on the day I asked, "Where are my muffins??" I first received puzzled looks in return, as no one was aware that I had any muffins or that any muffins were anywhere on the premises that day. I was upset, because I needed those muffins! I explained that I knew that my niece had taken them from me earlier in the day and I hadn't seen them since. Eventually, we figured out that I was, in fact, looking for my slippers.

muffins!


Do you ever experience muffinitis?

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