October Shell Exchange

Welcome to the October 2022 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 I don’t mention that you feel warrants attention, drop the link in the comments, and I’ll add it to the rotation next month.

1. Body Politic by Adrian Van Young

“And so came a tragicomic parade of techniques we undertook together to turn the baby right-side down, including the two of us visiting an acupuncturist with a stoned assistant; Darcy doing headstands in a pool; and, as a last resort, me singing and humming through a paper towel roll into her groin to coax the baby down through some sad human proxy of echolocation.”

2. Voices of Disability by Refinery29

Courtesy of Roxanne Gay, I found this publication. The fourth edition featured essays on everyday disability impacts.

3. Salisbury Steak Day by Michelle Strausbaugh🦀

“Cheese Ravioli, Italian Blend Vegetables, Navy Bean Salad, Strawberry CheesecakeThe one day I leave my apartment for a fucking doctor’s appointment and I miss the best Meals-on-Wheels day of all. Firm, lubricious pasta bursting with real ricotta. It will be six weeks or more until it comes again. I nearly weep from despair.”

4. The Most Exclusive Cruise in the Apocalypse by Perry Janes

“quickly the term thyroid goiter becomes scenic esophageal overlook. Hypertensionbecomes a live demonstration of the heart’s amazing high-volume pumping capacities! “

5. Long Covid has forced a reckoning for one of medicine’s most neglected diseases by Ed Yong

“ME/CFS specialists, already overwhelmed with demand for their services, now have to decide how to best use and spread their knowledge, at a time when more patients and doctors than ever could benefit from it.”

6. “People Think I’m a Project:” The Unique Challenges of Dating With Chronic Illness by Fortesa Latifi

“‘At the beginning of anything, you’re trying to figure out: What is the right amount of honesty and what is the right amount of boundary?’ said Quincee Gideon, a psychologist in Los Angeles who specializes in treating patients with chronic illness. ‘You shouldn’t have to feel like you have to disclose, but you also shouldn’t feel ashamed either. That’s the bind.’”

(Personally, I prefer my essay to this article. But I’m biased 😉)