A couple months ago, my partner and I took a 5-week-old kitten into our home. The decision was somewhat impulsive because we didn’t intend to adopt a kitten. We’d wanted an adult cat, because we were concerned that my resident cat, Lucky, wouldn’t take well to a new friend.
Authentically Human - Desiree Lama
Desiree Lama is a 20-something-year-old PhD student living in Austin, Texas. She was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis during high school at only 17 years old but began experiencing symptoms at 14. Since a young age, she has found a safe haven in writing because her grandma fostered her love for words and learning. Desiree lives her life through being authentically human in a superficial world. In this column, she will share personal memos of being a disabled, bisexual Mexican woman in an overcritical world. Desiree hopes that this column will encapsulate the captivatingly burdensome feelings of human existence, especially for those with MS.
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I have written about how much I enjoyed helping my grandma tend to her garden as a child, in the years before I was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. She instilled in me a great love for plants and for being outdoors. But with multiple sclerosis (MS)…
Have you ever been on a flight of stairs and misjudged the height of the steps, causing you to lose your footing? That happens to me more than I’d like to admit. This misjudgment stems from our depth perception, which is our ability to view the world in three dimensions,…
Before 2016, I didn’t need to take any prescription medications, at least not regularly. But during my first episode of optic neuritis and a few years later, after my diagnosis of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, I was forced to create a new habit. During that first episode of optic…
Along with creating memories with loved ones and exploring new places, traveling can be exhausting. There’s packing beforehand, scheduling itineraries, and then the actual traveling, whether it’s on the road or in the air. It can be especially challenging for people living with multiple sclerosis (MS). As I write…
Comparison is generally considered an innate human tendency, whether we realize it or not. And it’s not necessarily a negative phenomenon, though we often think of it that way. However, comparison does have the potential to be a complex emotional process, especially in the context of living with multiple…
Dear current me, Not that long ago, I wrote a letter to our younger self, newly diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS). That letter was intended to let her know that her diagnosis was not the end-all, be-all and wouldn’t take away from the beautiful and…
The summer months and the central Texas heat have arrived, and I feel indifferent about them. As someone with multiple sclerosis (MS) who experiences related heat intolerance, I try to avoid spending an extended amount of time outside. That saddens me because most of the summer fun occurs outdoors.
Bouts of heightened anxiety come in forceful waves and hit me like a freight train. I live with a baseline level of anxiety, but at times, it worsens for no specific reason. All I know is that it’s one of the worst feelings. Anxiety is a common phenomenon in…
One of the most essential parts of living with multiple sclerosis (MS) is building support systems. They offer practical help, but better yet, they also consider and foster our emotional survival. MS is full of unknowns and can thus be characterized as unpredictable. But one thing we can predict…
Of all of the cognitive functions that multiple sclerosis (MS) can affect, memory and processing issues have been my primary burdens. I’ve found them difficult to navigate and manage, especially when others don’t fully understand the extent to which they affect me. My MS-related cognitive impairments have resulted…
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