Dear Cyndy,

I just checked the mail box.
Your essays haven't arrived yet.
As soon as they do.
I'll read them and report to you.

I can't get my mind on my work,
keep worrying that if you don't have it,
my comments about petit mal epilepsy might 
make big problems for you. 
It's not generally understood how vague and approximate
all these diagnostic labels are.
The public, - and the bureaucrats - think that either you have
it or you don't. But that's not the case. There are many
gradations; many instances of what is popularly called
a "senior moment" may be epileptoid in nature;
there are many situations where a conclusive diagnosis
can't be made, and one must rely on judgment or intuition,
and may still be wrong.

On the one hand, I can't ignore your accounts of your
repeated falling, and must mention the possibility of
a seizure disorder, if only to try to protect you from the
fate of our poor neighbor. On the other hand, physicians'
loose talk can cause much damage. I can imagine how
important driving a car must be for you. I know the
medical profession, they will pin a diagnosis of petit mal
on you with mindless indifference, if only because the risks
of legal liability for failure to diagnose are very great,
while the legal liability for faulty diagnosis, especially
in a situation such as this is negligible.
And once a diagnosis, even an erroneous one
gets into official records, it may be very difficult,
time consuming and expensive to correct.  That's why you
must be very circumspect about how you proceed. If you feel
speaking on the phone might be of help, please feel free to
telephone me at any time (617-484-8109).

Jochen