Patient 'Splaining and How to Make It EffectivePatient ‘splaining. We all do it. Heck, it’s part of the job description of a chronically ill person. When the doctor asks how I’ve been doing, I always answer with... By Kim Dolce3 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments4 comments
What Multiple Sclerosis Looks LikeTry to imagine what disease looks like. Any disease. Diabetes, for example. When you hear the word, what do you envision? An amputee? A morbidly obese person? Or your own... By Kim Dolce4 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments3 comments
Copay Assistance Programs for MS DrugsGoing without your expensive MS disease-modifying drugs and symptom meds because you can’t afford them? Copay assistance is available to you. There are 2 main sources of funding: Most companies... By Kim Dolce3 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments1 comments
Do You Feel That You've Settled For Less Because of Your Disease?A loved one once remarked that since I developed MS I have settled for less in specific situations as an explanation for the unhappiness that followed—and MS was the reason... By Kim Dolce4 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments2 comments
Would Life With MS Be Better Without So Many People in It?It would be easy for introverts and embittered, abandoned souls in general to conclude that life would be easier without so much social contact. Lots of MS patients complain about hostile... By Kim Dolce4 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments0 comments
You've Got a FriendYou just call out my name And you know wherever I am I'll come running to see you again Winter, spring, summer or fall All you have to do is... By Kim Dolce3 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments2 comments
I Relate More to My Elderly Neighbors Than to People My Own AgeWhenever people asked me what that first MS attack felt like, I was frustrated and at a loss. I threw out words such as fatigue and weakness only to hear... By Kim Dolce5 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments23 comments
Money isn't Everything — But It Could Buy a Lot of Happiness“All I ask is a chance to prove money can’t make me happy.” –Henny Youngman (1906-1998) So you didn’t win the genetic lottery of excellent health, old money wealth, and... By Kim Dolce3 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments1 comments
Why Making Goals is Important Despite Having MSAfter my first MS attack in 1998 landed me in the hospital for five days of round-the-clock Solumedrol IVs and diagnostic tests, I was sent home with a script for... By Kim Dolce3 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments4 comments
How I Tackle Boredom Living Alone with MSRetired on disability and struggling to bring structure to your day? It’s something I face upon rising that is finally getting easier to solve. In the beginning we tell ourselves... By Kim Dolce4 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments10 comments
I Found Out the Hard Way Which of My Drugs Interact Badly with Each OtherAfter struggling through three days of suddenly worsening MS symptoms back in July 2011, I started a three-week course of oral prednisone. As usual, I felt an immediate improvement after... By Kim Dolce4 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments4 comments
Why Some Doctors Dismiss Your Symptoms and What You Can Do About ItA significant number of patients that go through the MS diagnostic process experience a disturbing pattern of misdiagnoses and dismissiveness from physicians. If you were one of them, as I... By Kim Dolce4 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments17 comments
Feel the Burn — of MS Neuropathic Pain!I don’t know how many times during my pre-MS life I exercised to yet another workout video where the instructor needled me into holding a difficult pose and said, "Do... By Kim Dolce3 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments10 comments
It's Normal to Grieve For What You've LostAs traumatic as a multiple sclerosis diagnosis was for me, the trauma soon faded and the losses that followed lingered much longer in my memory. The first loss was that of my... By Kim Dolce4 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments5 comments
We Can Enjoy Sex Despite Having Multiple SclerosisIf you are anything like me when you think about sex, you might start with a wistful memory of better days. Whether it was in the earlier stages of the... By Kim Dolce4 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments9 comments
The Difficulty of Balancing Activity and Rest-and What I'm Doing About ItIf I had a hundred dollars for each time I’ve heard staying active is the best way to preserve motor function, I’d be among the top 20 percent wealthiest people with... By Kim Dolce4 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments17 comments
The Hot and the Cold of It: How Temperature Changes Can Affect My MS BodyI’m not going to tell you what you should do about this. It’s not that I’m holding out on you, it’s just that I know you’ve read the official facts... By Kim Dolce4 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments24 comments
States to Live in For People with Disabilities; Things MS Patients Who Want to Relocate Should Think AboutAre you using disabled services and planning on relocating to another state? Wanting to move to a state that has better services than the one in which you currently live?... By Kim Dolce2 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments19 comments
How I Built My Healthcare TeamHow do you build a healthcare team? One professional at a time. During the earliest phase of my disease journey, the first two health professionals were the hardest to pin down:... By Kim Dolce4 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments3 comments
How to Ensure a Painless and Successful Lumbar PunctureWe embattled MS souls have had our blood sucked into tubes through tiny butterfly needles, our bodies buzzed with tuning forks, stabbed with pins, pummeled with reflex hammers, stuck with... By Kim Dolce4 min readBookmark for laterReactions 0 reactions Comments8 comments