The Drawing Board
Mary Ann Farley
- Location
- Hoboken, New Jersey, USA
- Birthday
- January 18
- Company
- www.maryannfarley.com
- Bio
- In 1999, at the very same time I was diagnosed with a serious blood clotting disorder (Essential Thrombocythemia), I also felt my face explode in a type of pain that no one could explain. After 13 months, I finally learned that it was osteonecrosis of the jaw (also known as NICO), a complication of the blood/bone marrow illness. I've had untold numbers of surgeries during this time, having spent most of it in pain. In 2004, the blood condition caused an internal massive hemmorhage during which I lost 70% of my blood volume, which in turn made the jaw infection much worse. This blog will detail my journey with chronic pain and all of its accompanying complications and emotions. I'll try to be as honest as possible without shooting myself.
MY RECENT POSTS
- The Ache of My Blind Foster
Kitten
May 12, 2013 08:55PM - The Strength of Melancholia
October 01, 2012 10:55PM - The Perils of Perfectionism
August 25, 2012 11:05PM - Six...No, Two...Degrees of
Donna Summer
May 17, 2012 04:54PM - Revenge of the Invisible
March 31, 2012 11:24AM
MY RECENT COMMENTS
- “Thank you for this.
Mesmerizing. And thanks to all
for the
great commentary,
part…”
May 12, 2013 08:47PM - “What a beautiful post. I
remember seeing "Siskel &
Ebert"
when it w…”
April 06, 2013 07:05PM - “...and thank you for
your kind words.”
October 02, 2012 11:08PM - “JT--I know what you mean
about the fear of exposing
yourself
to anything that
cou…”
October 02, 2012 11:07PM - “Thanks, Gyp. As I said
over on your blog, I enjoyed
reading
your review,
too!”
October 02, 2012 06:38PM
Mary Ann Farley's Links
- My Links
- Mary Ann Farley's Etsy Shop
The Ache of My Blind Foster Kitten
I woke up with a strange sense of sadness this morning. I’ve been fighting it for a couple of weeks, but this morning I finally let myself cry about it, although the “it” has been somewhat vague. But that’s not really true. I know what it is…I just haven’t wanted… Read full post »
The Strength of Melancholia
The Perils of Perfectionism
Note: To those who subscribe to this blog, kindly subscribe to my new blog, which is now hosted on my newly redesigned web site. For the next month or so, I'll continue to cross-post here as well.
Something curious this week happened with my music. Frustrated with the MP3/…
Six...No, Two...Degrees of Donna Summer
I just heard the sad news about the untimely passing of Donna Summer, the disco queen of the 1970s and early '80s, whose career took off in 1975 after meeting producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, the duo that wrote so many of her hits, such as "Hot Stuff," "I Feel… Read full post »
Revenge of the Invisible
Young geniuses are everywhere. This week, New York Magazine announced the arrival a 25-year-old female showrunner for HBO's new show, Girls, with a spectacular cover story. I read the article today, right on the heels of watching Oprah's interview with Lady Gaga, another astonishing 25-year-old who's… Read full post »
Pain for Sale
I've been away from my blog for so long because in August, I relaunched my Etsy shop (an online site that sells handmade goods from all over the world), which had been sitting dormant since 2007. And every day since...I kid you not...I've been putting in a good eight hours a… Read full post »
Open Call: Occupy America! (My NYC pix)
I took these pictures at the Oct. 5 OWS march to Zuccotti Park in New York. Then my dear friend Dean set them to my song, My Life of Crime, which I wrote about ten years ago when I was so ill but had no health insurance.
I would get tests,… Read full post »
How I Quit Smoking (6 months and counting...)
I Seem to Have Misplaced My Life
Lady Gaga is everywhere. When I scan the channels there she
is--in yet another interview, another video, another performance,
another commercial. And I admit, I can't get enough of it.
But while I'm enjoying the ride, there's a lingering malaise that's
sitting in the pit of my stomach like an undiges… Read full post »
The Weight of Encroaching Ice
Who is God?
When the Law of Attraction fails
For my birthday last week, my dear friend Janet gave me the book
The Power, which is the much-anticipated follow-up to the
bestseller The Secret by Rhonda Byrne.
Even though I never read The Secret, a number of years
ago, Janet and I were big fans of the Law of Attraction (LOA)… Read full post »
You're going to do WHAT to my butt?
When the bad days erupt, they can feel like a slow controlled
explosion, with each passing hour feeling worse than the one that
just came before.
This past week, I’ve been trying to reduce my morphine dose,
as I'm seeing a new holistic doctor in New York City, who has put
me… Read full post »
The Bust-Out Power of Journalling
After the holidays had ended, I was feeling such a terrible void, which isn't that unusual, I suppose, at this time of year, but the whole season seemed to have a void to it, despite how busy I was.…
The Curious Effect of Vincent D'Onofrio
Another Day in My Pajamas
Make no mistake—no matter how much one thinks he or she has accepted being in a state of chronic pain, the bad days cause reflection on those that were better, before the unacceptable occurred and we were unalterably changed forever.
And it’s on those days that I realize that at… Read full post »
Smashing the Bell Jar, Once and For All
I recently saw a 2009 interview with the stunningly talented pop sensation Lady Gaga and was aghast, not only because of her genius and creativity, but because this poised, wise, already-an-icon diva is just 23 years old, basically at the beginning stages of her career, with something like 15 million… Read full post »
Faith, Art and Power Ball
It's been so long since I’ve made an entry. In re-reading
my last post, it's inspiring to report that my apparent acceptance
of this chronic pain has had a lasting effect, one that has
produced a stretch of creativity I haven't had in years.
Bitch-Slapping My Guilt, With Good Results
I had a big insight.
There I was on Thursday, experiencing one of the worst pain days
I've had since this whole ordeal began six years ago. Absolutely
nothing I did worked to ease the burning and aching in my face, so
I did the only thing that I knew for sure… Read full post »
Quitting Smoking: An Existential Review
HELP!!! I'M DYING FOR A CIGARETTE!!! I'm having an operation next week, and in order to not develop complications, I must stop smoking and drinking TODAY. ACK! This is worse than when I got my nose pierced last week! This is worse than that time I screwed up my haircut and… Read full post »
X Marks the Spot
My cat became deathly ill in late December to the tune of $3,000, and then a sudden twist of fate (the…
This Is It
I've always been the fix-it gal. Since an early age, I thought that if I just said the right thing, did the right thing, talked and walked the right way, then I could control the people around me. Growing up, obviously the first two people I tried to fix were my parents.… Read full post »
Untitled
Results of My Relativity Experiment
So I decided to do a five-day diet of…
That Lovely Ring of Truth
I was a patient of this…
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