Déjà Vu Blogfest: A Curse, and a Secret!
Hello and welcome to the Déjà Vu Blogfest! Hosted by DL Hammons, Creepy Query Girl, Nicole Ducleroir and yours truly!
Oh, but it was hard to pick an old post to recycle today. Though there has been good news to backflip over recently, and more good news, I've decided to share a little secret, via this Medical Mondays post from September of 2011. I was in the trenches then, studying for my Internal Medicine Boards.
Here we go!
*****
Well, ha. This was inevitable.
I'm trying to keep myself in study mode, but I KNEW sooner or later I'd learn some factoid I'd feel compelled to share with you guys.
So I'm taking a brief break to tell you about Ondine's Curse.
It's an extremely rare medical condition in which a person can only breath voluntarily.
Meaning...if they fall sleep, they don't breathe and can die.
Ugh!!!
How can that be, you ask? Well, in the congenital form in infants, it's often fatal. It's so rare, doctors don't usually look for it. But in adults, it's caused by an auto accident, stroke, or neurosurgical complication to the centers of the brain that control breathing. They often need to use a ventilator machine to breath at night or an electronic device to zap their diaphragm muscle into helping them breathe.
The name Ondine's Curse comes from a German myth. Ondine was a water nymph in love with a mortal man. She gave up her immortality when she fell in love with him and bore him a child. He had promised, "Every waking breath will be a testament to my love for you."
When he became unfaithful, she cursed him—if he ever fell asleep, his breath would be taken from him and he would die. Eventually, from exhaustion, the man did fall asleep. And he succumbed to the curse.
!!!!
*****
Why did I pick this for the blogfest? Well, after I wrote this post last year, I couldn't stop thinking about Ondine's Curse. I'd get short of breath imagining living life with this ailment. How a person would have such an odd relationship with air, and sleeping, and...existing.
So here's the secret: one of the main characters in my novel, The Fountain, suffers from Ondine's curse.
I originally started Medical Mondays to give back and share my medical skills with the writing community. I honestly didn't expect it to come full circle and inspire me in such a significant way.
Thanks for stopping by! I'm looking forward to reading all your recycled and awesome posts!
Oh, but it was hard to pick an old post to recycle today. Though there has been good news to backflip over recently, and more good news, I've decided to share a little secret, via this Medical Mondays post from September of 2011. I was in the trenches then, studying for my Internal Medicine Boards.
Here we go!
*****
Well, ha. This was inevitable.
I'm trying to keep myself in study mode, but I KNEW sooner or later I'd learn some factoid I'd feel compelled to share with you guys.
So I'm taking a brief break to tell you about Ondine's Curse.
It's an extremely rare medical condition in which a person can only breath voluntarily.
Meaning...if they fall sleep, they don't breathe and can die.
Ugh!!!
How can that be, you ask? Well, in the congenital form in infants, it's often fatal. It's so rare, doctors don't usually look for it. But in adults, it's caused by an auto accident, stroke, or neurosurgical complication to the centers of the brain that control breathing. They often need to use a ventilator machine to breath at night or an electronic device to zap their diaphragm muscle into helping them breathe.
The name Ondine's Curse comes from a German myth. Ondine was a water nymph in love with a mortal man. She gave up her immortality when she fell in love with him and bore him a child. He had promised, "Every waking breath will be a testament to my love for you."
When he became unfaithful, she cursed him—if he ever fell asleep, his breath would be taken from him and he would die. Eventually, from exhaustion, the man did fall asleep. And he succumbed to the curse.
!!!!
*****
Why did I pick this for the blogfest? Well, after I wrote this post last year, I couldn't stop thinking about Ondine's Curse. I'd get short of breath imagining living life with this ailment. How a person would have such an odd relationship with air, and sleeping, and...existing.
So here's the secret: one of the main characters in my novel, The Fountain, suffers from Ondine's curse.
I originally started Medical Mondays to give back and share my medical skills with the writing community. I honestly didn't expect it to come full circle and inspire me in such a significant way.
Thanks for stopping by! I'm looking forward to reading all your recycled and awesome posts!
No comments have been added yet.
