Sick a memoir by porochista khakpour instagram
•
Sick: A Memoir
•
In the opening pages of her memoir Sick (2018), Porochista Khakpour tells readers that even though she has lived with Lyme for most of her life, her knowledge of the disease is full of gaps. "It is unlikely I will ever know when I contracted [Lyme]," she writes, "just as it is unlikely I will ever be rid of it entirely" (3). Testing for Lyme is unreliable. There is also no way to prove that one has been cured of the disease. As such, doctors frequently regard Lyme with skepticism. In Khakpour's words, the disease is seen as one "of hypochondriacs and alarmists and rich people who have the money and time to go chasing obscure diagnoses" (21). Because of this lack of clinical, social, and cultural support, Khakpour experiences Lyme as a vast unknown. She firmly believes that something is wrong with her body, but she is forced to question whether the symptoms she experiences are psychological, physical in nature, or something else altogether.
Published this year after much critical anticipation, Sick charts Khakpour's circuitous and at times maddening path to receiving a diagnosis of late-stage Lyme. Readers of Sick follow Khakpour as she repeatedly seeks help from the medical establishment but comes up empty handed again and again. It isn't until the last pages of the mem
•
Right Boy, Right Time w/ Porochista Khakpour
About The Episode
Porochista Khakpour grew up without having dogs around. After finishing grad school, Porochista was completing a fellowship year in Baltimore. It was there that she decided it was as good a time as ever to take in a dog. In particular, she was interested in senior greyhounds who were retired racer dogs, who often had trouble finding homes.
The first dog she met from the local Baltimore greyhound rescue chapter was King, who she fell in love with immediately and adopted. It was a special relationship, and a dog she grew a bond with fast. But she didn’t realize how connected they were, as King had a disease that Porochista would soon be suffering from herself.
For a while after, she kept fostering and rescuing – including with other breeds, like Saluki’s. However, eventually, Porochista found herself very ill. She was knocking on death’s door with an undiagnosed case of late-stage Lyme Disease – a scary process that included daily medical treatment. When she would be waiting in the facility around appointments, there was a black moyen poodle who would come in and whom she was captivated by. There was an old lady who would sit by Porochista, and she saw how much joy and excitement the dog would bring her every t