When you are living with multiple sclerosis sometimes you don’t feel like celebrating. Especially, if you live near Phoenix and high temperature on the day of your celebration was 111 degrees. I was feeling fatigued, overheated and wanted to stay in bed all day. I was considering cancelling the dinner, but there was one party […]
The Vacation Remix In part one of this blog, Chronic Illness Vacation Risk Factors, I identified chronic illness vacation risk factors as being travel stress, overdoing it, overheating, time zone and diet changes. These factors can all lead to mini-flare ups or pseudo exacerbations of your condition. These pseudo exacerbations tend to last a short […]
Imagine that you are a senior in college and a semester away from graduating. You are going for an afternoon jog. The sun is shining as you run along the California coastline. You stop at an intersection and wait for the walk signal. The signal changes and you start jogging across the crosswalk. Then, […]
Tomorrow, Monday, June 23, 2014, I will be tuning in to see Jason DaSilva’s documentary, When I Walk. Much like the initial onset of my experience with multiple sclerosis, Jason lost the ability to walk. While I responded well to therapy and treatment, Jason was not as lucky. Throughout the film making process, Jason’s disability […]
Summer vacations with the family are fun. This time of year is all about getting outdoors and creating memories to last a life time. Even if you have a chronic illness, like multiple sclerosis, you can still enjoy these summer vacations. You just have to understand the risk factors: Chronic Illness Vacation Risk Factors Travel […]
June 10th of 2005 was a day that changed my life forever. It was the day that I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Back then, I didn’t handle it well. There were too many unknowns: How was MS going to affect my career and marriage? Did people with MS have a shortened life expectancy? Was […]
From May until September, temperatures in Chandler, Arizona are constantly in the triple digits. For the first four summers since I moved to Chandler, the heat constantly affected my MS. I found that during the high heat that I was more fatigued, more irritable and had less energy than I did during the cooler […]
On Memorial Day of 2005, I was just discharged from the hospital after being treated for an acute onset of Transverse Myelitis. Earlier in the month, I had lost my ability to walk and go to the bathroom on my own. After being discharged from the hospital, I was still unable to walk without help. […]
Multiple Sclerosis can be a very isolating condition. When I was first diagnosed, I wanted to be alone. I didn’t want to see my friends, I was no longer attending Sunday dinners at my parent’s house and date night with my wife was a thing of the past. I just wanted to stay inside my […]
When I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the June of 2005, there were four treatment options available for managing the disease. These treatments were considered disease modifying agents intended to increase the time between relapse. Each of these treatments also required the patient to inject themselves, which was something that I could never do. […]