This page is the most up to date snapshot of what I am working on, since the site rarely reflects real-time.
I am currently in: Ottawa, Ontario. The last few years have been a serious roller coaster, and a big change.
In 2017, my parents had planned to visit me in Oaxaca. Instead, they flew there to see the city, and bring my belongings back. A lumbar puncture in August 2017 led to a chronic cerebrospinal fluid leak, and to the diagnosis of an inflammatory condition called mast cell activation syndrome as well as a genetic condition called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. I have since spent many years in bed, 22 hours a day, unable to stand up at all. For more about spinal CSF leaks and what happened to me from the lumbar puncture, please see this 2022 piece I wrote for CNN about the last few years.
As you can imagine, going from a life of travel and food to being incapacitated left me with profound grief that I had to learn how to process.
I am still mostly bedbound, but have managed to claw back some “uptime” and am able to live independently with support — I have home care once or twice a week, and help for groceries. I’ve set up my apartment with many accommodations to support my limited mobility. I have had 4 procedures to try and seal the leak, but they have not held; the longest I was ‘sealed’ for was 8 months. Each one was harder and harder on my body, culminating in anaphylaxis on the OR table during the 4th.
As a result, I’ve deferred treatment for my spinal CSF leak until medicine evolves to help me get better. For now, the outcomes for people with my facts are not promising.
Instead, I’ve settled in Ottawa for the long term because my brother is here, and because the medical system is better for my conditions.
I can’t work very much because of how little time I can stay upright, so this website has suffered as a result. I’ve tried many different options for working on my laptop ‘flat’ in bed, but they aren’t feasible living alone. Every minute I’m upright goes against the clock of what I can tolerate to stand up each day, including feeding myself and showering and taking care of basic needs.
As a result, I’ve had to prioritize the work that pays the bills, or leads people to places that pay the bills. I also volunteer a lot of my time to the Spinal CSF Leak Foundation, where I’ve been on the Board of Directors since 2022. Legal Nomads has therefore taken a backseat with the limited amount of ‘brain juice’ I have to spend.
What I’m up to now:
- A Patreon community full of wonderful people. Within, I share ‘overflow reads’ from Curious About Everything, my newsletter that compiles the best things I read each month. I also answer questions about chronic pain, and share some of the ways I’ve tried to accommodate my disabilities. I write about interesting studies that come out, and post photos from my life of small things. Learn more here. (I was also named a Patreon Ambassador, which has been great as I’ve met so many interesting Creators!)
- My hand-drawn art featuring maps of food with a Canada map as my newest offering, in tote bags, posters, and tees.
- My celiac translation cards! As a celiac, it’s been a challenge to travel and eat safely, even though I love to learn through food. While the main purpose of the site is narrative-based writing, over the years I built very detailed gluten-free translation cards, as well as guides for those seeking to travel. The guides are free, but cards are available for purchase, to help offset the cost of translating and building them. These cards are different because they account for cross-contamination, are researched by a celiac, use local food names, and are translated by native speakers familiar with celiac disease. These cards were even featured in the New York Times – woohoo! And readers write me to say that their doctors in hospitals in UK and USA have recommended the cards for others with celiac disease – feels truly wonderful to help people eat safely. Newest card in 2024: Croatia! Next up: Indonesia (Bahasa Indonesia) and South Korea.
- My free monthly newsletter mentioned above, Curious About Everything. I used to have a newsletter called Links I Loved, and this is the next generation of that project. Despite all that’s gone on, I’ve managed to get this out each month and that’s something I’m proud of! During my hours of bed-bound living, I read a lot of great pieces, and I share them here with information about each one, as well as a quick links section of shorter reads and one featured artist each month.
- In recent years, I splintered some of the health content onto a newer personal site where I share articles about chronic pain, meditation, insomnia, and more. I did so when it was clear that my life of travel was going to stay in the past; Legal Nomads remains the place where I write new celiac guides or post about life after law. The personal site is similarly designed so it’s part of the same family, and also uses Arthur (the raven!) as its mascot:
UPDATES!
In November 2023, I spoke at a conference about living life with a persistent spinal CSF leak, and the accommodations I implemented in my apartment in order to live independently while being mostly bedbound:
Also in November 2023, I won a Health Impact Award for my writing and advocacy, which was a huge (and welcome!) surprise.
In Novemver 2024, I presented on the question I get often: why am I not going for more treatment? The answers are complicated, something I call an onion of catch-22s, and I share the reasons and what I’ve done to cope, here:
Since I can’t travel and computer time is fairly limited, I’ve got few new posts but I have been updating some of the older posts to ensure that they are current.
- My gluten free guides to Italy, Portugal, Japan, France, Spain, and Morocco, as well as my now-home of Ottawa.
- My long resource page for people who don’t want to be lawyers any longer. This includes personal interviews from my Thrillable Hours® series of lawyers who left private practice, but also the how of switching from such a rigid career. It’s got questions to ask yourself, and ways to rethink the skills you have to make that leap easier. This was last updated in August 2025. It’s useful for anyone who wants a career change, not just attorneys.
- On the personal site: a long mast cell activation resources page, helpful for many readers with long covid. It includes my protocol, the supplements that have helped me, and more about this inflammatory immune condition. I update it often.
Get in touch!
As always, you can find me on Twitter, Threads, Instagram, or Facebook.
Thanks for reading!
Thanks to Derek for /now inspiration.
