A public service announcement:

Beware, peeps: my severe pain, lack of good sleep, and meds (sodium valproate, naratriptan, Gravol, etc) can make me very blunt at times.

I’ve been kicked out of closed groups on FB and message boards even when I’ve explained the medicine, neurosurgery and neurology behind it many, many times. Like I said to a spoonie Facebook friend – some people just. Don’t. Get it. – especially if they have never had to deal with chronic pain. 

1) I have a big problem when people are being willfully, continually ignorant or stupid – about anything – and I have no problem telling them straight to their faces.

2) I can’t interpret sarcasm AT ALL, either. On the other hand, I have a quirky sense of humour and love giving hugs and cuddles, so hopefully that balances things out.

“I just…love scanning for life-forms!”

My DH calls me “Data”, after the Star Trek Next Generation character, because:

3) I really have a tough time interpreting emotions right now. 

I think a lot of the reason behind it is that sarcasm simply cannot be adequately communicated in a print-only format. So much of human emotion is conveyed by facial expression and tone of voice – and that’s something Facebook cannot provide.

4) I tend to ask people directly if they’re being sarcastic – it’s the only way I can know for sure.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

Sidenote: I’m composing lyrics based on the “Life Forms” song, set to the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Music of the Night from The Phantom of the Opera. 

And I just have to include this. This post would not be complete without it.

Update!

I’ve been off all narcotics since January 2013, which has made things a little easier. However, I still experience daily severe migraines, so I am still Commander Data.