Why, though?

Brad Dell

After two months of constantly telling people I was going to do this, I can finally say: Hi, welcome to my blog.

First off, I’m Brad Dell, a 23-year-old freelance writer and editor, history enthusiast, Marvel and Star Wars fanboy, ENFJ, and Christian. I also happen to have cystic fibrosis, anxiety/panic disorder, deafness* (as of May ‘16), and mild diabetes. But more on that later.

Now that you have a very, very brief snapshot of who I am, I guess it would make sense to start off with saying why this blog is being created.

I have three purposes in writing this:

  1. To write.

This is the most basic reason. Unfortunately, I’m not able to write articles as often now since conducting interviews is a bit difficult when I can’t hear what the person is saying.* So, to prevent a rusty writing hand (or typing hands?), I’m going to try to consistently write in this blog. Plus, nobody talks about one of the worst parts of deafness: you get really bored. Hopefully this can take up some of my time.

  1. To get things off my chest.

Another thing that deafness has made difficult: seeing a therapist. I don’t believe people should be ashamed to say they need help, so, yeah, I need help. I took an “autobiographical writing about chronic illness” class this past semester and, wow, there’s something incredibly therapeutic found in writing about my struggles.

  1. To inspire.

But don’t worry! It’s not all about the struggles. This blog is also about how I will never, ever let these battles topple me. While I’m nowhere near perfect at handling things, my hope is that someone out there—whether they share my problems or are just having a difficult time finding positive perspective in life—can find inspiration in the people, the journeys, the situations, the philosophies I write about.

So what exactly will I be writing about?

  • Lessons learned in my relationship with God. Don’t exit out of the webpage so fast—even if you aren’t “religious,” you can still find value in many Christian ideals. I promise.
  • Stories about people I’ve met, about my day, or about my childhood. No fiction, just genuine stories that have formed my perspectives on how to live the good life.
  • Updates on my health. With the possibility of a lung transplant looming, things could get scary/crazy. But the outcome could be marvelous.
  • Random ramblings. Sometimes, I just have to say something about something.

Tune in whenever you want, and feel free to comment thoughts or critiques!

The end goal for this blog is for me to have a lung transplant and cochlear implants, and be enjoying living a fresh life so much that I don’t have time to write anymore.

Next post: The meaning behind the blog name, Adamantium Joy.

Published by Brad Dell

I’m Brad Dell, a 27-year-old Deaf, lung-transplanted dude with cystic fibrosis. When not working to amplify rare disease patient voices at BioNews Services, I'm volunteering in church ministry.

19 Comments

  1. You are very articulate & have the strength & humor to do a great job. Your serious side makes me think about views other than my own or even see my own in a new way. I look forward to your updates!

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  2. I’m glad you decided to do this blog, Brad! I was hoping you would, because I enjoy reading your FB posts. You have an interesting way of expressing thoughts. Have you always enjoyed writing as therapy? I journal sometimes, but I am not consistant about it. I’m looking forward to “following” your blog! God bless you.

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    1. Thank you! I found it helpful to journal during winter and summer breaks, but once school would wind up, I would get too busy. No excuses now that I’m graduated and barely working!

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  3. Hey Brad! It is Rob and Laura Bolton…Andrew’s parents. He has kept us up to speed on all of your struggles. After hearing him talk about you strength, we have no doubt how strong you are and positive things will come you way. We are praying for you and wish you all the best.

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  4. Brad I think this is great a blog I will surely follow for the update on your love for the Lord, travels, people you meet, message of encouragement, your love of writing, family and treatments. You are truly a great author and editor who has inspired many through the years and I look forward to your blog so do what you do INSPIRE OTHERS.

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  5. I love this! I love reading your written voice – I can smell the coffee, see the fireplace crackling and damp fur trees outside the window and hear the cat purring – that’s what I get when I read your words ;). I also still see a history professor, an author and a magazine editor when i look at you! I’m so glad you are writing! What a talent, therapy and witness 🙂

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  9. Yo, Brad– I did my residency in Pediatrics in Rochester, N.Y., the “Deaf Capital of the World.”

    One of the eye-openers about living in a parallel world with Deaf Culture is that in Rochester, if a deaf person needs therapy, there are…deaf therapists!

    While there are controversies about whether deaf people should have a separate, parallel society or not, I discovered a different sort of parallel when I moved to Israel and tried to do therapy with a non-English-speaker.

    Since my Master’s Degree is in Cultural Anthropology, I should not have been surprised to find that “language= culture” is TRUE. The well-meaning therapists could no more understand the language of my soul than a picture hanging on the wall. That is a very oblique sentence, but you probably get it. So I myself get it that therapy might be a bit difficult with a hearing therapist.

    I’ve watched the struggles of “mainstreamed” deaf people and compared the visuals to what it’s like in Rochester, where hearing people sometimes feel marginalized by silent rooms full of folks signing away, obviously having a great time. Many schools there even teach ASL to the hearing kids so they won’t feel left out–which is controversial in the Deaf Community.

    BTW as a resident I got to observe the **second ever** cochlear implant! At that time, the criteria were limited to kids who had once had hearing, speech, and language, but had lost it (usually due to encephalitis from germs we no longer have due to the H. Influenzae vaccine).

    Were you born deaf, or did you have hearing at one time?

    I love your writing, I love your voice, and I love that you’ve discovered your blogging talent. Looking forward!
    –Laura

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    1. No way! That’s so cool! I’ll need to read up on Rochester. Still learning loads about the deaf world every day. It’s so intriguing and complex.

      I lost the hearing in my right ear due to aminoglycoside use in 2010. Then most of the left ear last March thanks to mysterious causes — killed the rest off by Sept. 2016 with continued aminoglycoside use (IV amikacin).

      Amazing that you saw the second implant! They sure have changed since then, huh? It’s so science fiction-y. I’d rather have never gone deaf, but it really is cool to carry that kind of tech on my head.

      Thank you for the compliments! So encouraging (:

      Digging through your blog now and really enjoying it! Such a vivid voice and intriguing topics. I’ve never followed a blog written by someone with a medical degree. Looking forward to learning more from you!

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      1. Whoa, dude. Amikacin….I’m so sorry. And then you went on to transplant anyway….that sux so bad. You’d think they wouldn’t have to resort to AG’s in the 21st Century…I still have nightmares about orders I wrote in the 1980’s, hoping nobody went deaf or lost their kidneys while I was trying to save their lives.

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