Living with MS

Children are full of energy and excitement, and while spending time with kids can be a joy, it's also indisputably exhausting - especially for someone with MS. In her latest...

I go to my MS specialist every six months. At each appointment, we go through the same routine: check my strength, test my reflexes, finger to nose, have my eyes...

Brooke shares the worst part of her day: her first step out of bed in the morning onto the floor. The long walk to the bathroom feels like walking on...

Being diagnosed with an incurable, chronic illness such as Multiple Sclerosis is never a pleasant experience. However, for many people, getting that final confirmation creates an extreme sense of relief. That...

My listening skills have been pretty good since childhood. It comes second nature (so many things do; ever wonder what comes first nature?). I acknowledge what someone says to me...

Sound like a silly question? Being positive means being, well, positive, everybody knows what that means. But I say, not necessarily. To my mind, we are living in a time...

Getting a successful night of sleep is something that can be difficult for someone with a chronic illness like Multiple Sclerosis. From having trouble getting comfortable to bouts of painsomnia...

Problems with balance, coordination, and gait are not uncommon for people with MS, and some people use a cane, walker, or a wheelchair to help them get around. Others manage...

Living with MS means a lifetime of unpredictability. You may feel perfectly fine when you go to bed, but sometime during the night, a significant front moves through the neighborhood...

I think January is hard each year. You’re settling down from the holidays and trying to get all of your ducks back in a row. Each January, I’m exhausted for...

When MS is in the news, those actually living with the condition have a new spotlight on them, but if they "don't look sick" they face additional questions from friends...

How do we view ourselves and what does that say to the outside world? Having a serious disease challenges our identity at every turn. For those of us with a...

I don’t care what people think. I’ve heard it plenty of times from plenty of people throughout my life. As a kid I said it myself when somebody was really...

As I write this, we are closing in on February 2nd. For most, that’s Groundhog Day, for me, it is yet another MSiversary (what I call the anniversary of the day...

MRIs are no fun. Going in for an MRI to track MS progression can cause a lot of anxiety for people living with MS. If a new lesion appears, it's...

When actress Selma Blair recently announced her Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis, one of her first sentences contained the phrase “I am disabled.” This is something I fervently applauded, however, it didn’t...

At first, I blamed my Sasquatch feet on prednisone. But two months after being totally off steroids, I still had bloated ankles and feet. I saw my PCP, and she...

The daytime sleepiness and fatigue that MS is famous for are perhaps the most common symptom experienced by people with MS. Pathological fatigue occurs when, upon awakening, you still feel...

In politics they say “the pendulum swings both ways,” just like on an old clock. If you are not sure what a pendulum is, it’s that weighted ball at the...

Some days, I find myself feeling guilty. I feel guilty because although I have MS, and have had it for many years, my MS has remained stable and overall mild...