November 2023 Shell Exchange

Welcome to the November 2023 Shell Exchange!

Midway through each month, I drop a list of recommended reads. I try to feature winning hermit crab essays (🦀) when possible. But those charming crabbies aren’t always easy to find. So I also make it a point to share pieces on invisible illness.

If you come across an essay or article I haven’t mentioned that you feel warrants attention, drop the link in the comments, and I’ll add it to the rotation next month.

1. “Men Explain Periods to Me” by Farah Ahamed from The LA Review of Books

“I told myself it didn’t really matter since, after all, periods are a normal biological phenomenon. But back then, I had no way of anticipating how men would react to me or my book. And I had yet to realize that, while raising awareness about period poverty may be acceptable, discussing the shame around the female body is still taboo.”

2. “Scientists Offer a New Explanation for Long Covid” by Pam Belluck from The New York Times

“This is one of several new studies documenting distinct biological changes in the bodies of people with long Covid — offering important discoveries for a condition that takes many forms and often does not register on standard diagnostic tools like X-rays.”

3. “Researchers try to tease out possible ties between long Covid and menopause” by Annalise Merelli from STAT

“‘I’ve been experiencing absolutely a change in the number of women I’m seeing with earlier menopausal symptoms, and the severity of symptoms being quite a bit more intense than it used to be,’ she said. ‘And I’m seeing menopausal women who have been menopausal for years and stable, whether on hormones or not, starting to have symptoms again.’”

4. “Meghan O’Rourke on a medical system not built for chronic illness—and the ‘invisible kingdom’ that could spur change” by Isabella Cueto from STAT

“She saw the body, within the paradigm of Western medicine, as a car. ‘Its parts need upkeep, piece by piece,’ she wrote in her acclaimed 2022 book, ‘The Invisible Kingdom.’ In 15-minute pit stops, care is doled out, and the car sent to a different mechanic if the issue isn’t as simple as a tire change.”

5. “A Hospice Nurse on Embracing the Grace of Dying” by David Marchese from The New York Times Magazine

“But no one wants to say: ‘You are going to die. What do you want us to do?’ It’s against that culture of ‘You’re going to beat this.’”

6. “Wallaby To The Rescue” by Shigeko Ito from Grand Dame Literary

“Not so long ago, during my son's high school years, his emotional volatility overlapped with my menopausal irritability, and our house became ground zero for an adolescent versus menopausal Battle Royale. I was a sleep-deprived hot mess, incapable of sound decision-making. That was when the image of a soft, cuddly pet wallaby began to increasingly tempt me.”

7. “What if you had dementia—and didn’t know it?” by Nurith Aizenman from NPR

“But the hospital in Wote has no neurologists, says Musyimi. In fact it only has one psychiatrist ‘serving a population of about 1 million,’ she says. ‘So in the entire county there is no other psychiatrist. And there are many other counties in Kenya that don't have a psychiatrist.’”

8. “Horses, Depression, and Me: How Riding Changed My Life” by Mari Sasano from The Walrus

“Movement in response to tension is tense. Movement in response to anger often ends with you lying in the dirt. You always need to be aware of how you are holding yourself mentally, emotionally, and physically. Where are your arms and legs? What is the angle of your body in the saddle? Are you providing confident leadership or transmitting anxiety and fear?”

9. “My Life as a Cyborg” by Richard Toon from Oldster

“The gizmos I insert into my body several times a week adjust my insulin levels every five minutes. This is such an unimaginably long way from where I started—sterilizing a glass syringe in a saucepan and injecting a daily dose of insulin—it’s like gaining an extra life.”

10. “As a Disabled Person, Experiencing Joy Often Comes With a Trade-Off” by Brijana Prooker from PopSugar

“Saying yes to a beach day with my dog, a trip to a vegan street fair with my sister, or a marathon of baking with my mom is my way of taking back some of that stolen joy. I do so knowing that at the end of the day, my blood vessels will be broken and bleeding; my brain will be so foggy and fatigued that I'll forget how to string together a sentence. It's a heartbreaking choice, but when it comes down to it, I would rather be in pain than depressed.”

11. “Synchronous Storytelling” by Lizzie Simon from Lizzie’s Letter

“Last week, as the echo tech took 175 photos, my daughter held my hand and thumb wrestled me and I told stories. The stories I was telling - myself, my child and the technician - all supported a notion of progress, of being past the early days. Can you imagine getting a six month old, a nine month old, an 18 month old to lay still for an hour for an echo? Shudder! We were past all of that.”

12. “Can’t Think, Can’t Remember: More Americans Say They’re in a Cognitive Fog” by Francesca Paris from The New York Times

“The sharp increase captures the effects of long Covid for a small but significant portion of younger adults, researchers say, most likely in addition to other effects of the pandemic, including psychological distress. But they also say it’s not yet possible to fully dissect all the reasons behind the increase.”

13. “La Gorda: A Speculative Exploration” by Ainhoa Palacios from The Audacity

“All that conditioning does something to my growing body. It makes every muscle so tight and firm that I look like one of those Greek sculptures. Your words, not mine. More of your words: look at her arms; touch them, touch them. You encourage your friends and visiting family— all strangers to me—to look for my six-pack. To poke them while my face flushes.”