Chained to My Desk
The tinkling laughter of tiny children filters through the windows of my bedroom. It’s a sunny Sunday afternoon. In…
Articles by John Connor
Crawling to Deadline
It’s 3:15 p.m. U.K. time on Wednesday, May 9, 2018. My deadline for this column is actually 3 p.m.
Knowing Me, Knowing MS
The problem with writing a weekly column is I always need to come up with new ideas. Luckily, or…
Tricks of the Trade
I saw my neurologist a few weeks ago for what was effectively an emergency meeting. I’d had the customary…
It’s the Little Things
Really big things are going on in the world. WW3 is again flagged as a possibility. My world is considerably…
Back to the World
The stars sometimes align, even for us atheists. My son was making a fleeting weekend visit from his last…
Be My Wife
Let me introduce you to my wife, Jane, by cheekily lifting the title “Be My Wife” from…
Keep Taking the Steroids!
Six months ago, I was a reasonably svelte 14 and a half stone. I’m not sure how I…
Into the Woods
Well, I’m usually fairly upbeat, but this time, it’s going to be beyond me. We’ve all had relapses…
Out of the Woods?
It’s been a grueling three weeks. Birds ate my breadcrumb trail long ago. I was too tired to follow it…
Going Cold Turkey
Usually, I’ve got a fair idea of where I’m headed in my column. This time, I really don’t. I’m…
What’s Going On?
Something is! I had to be carted off to the hospital in an ambulance on Thursday of last…
Having a Swell Time
The thing about becoming increasingly immobile is that your consumption of TV, radio, podcasts, books and, indeed, anything written goes…
Do Supplements Add Up?
It started with vitamin D. Little did I know I was starting a habit. I had my first…
In Me Shorts, Midwinter: Why a Kilt Would Be Welcome
It was Burns Night last week, which is always a joy. I love whisky and am very partial…
The Antibiotic Time Loop
My arms are heavy. Strong antibiotics have held off a urinary tract infection (UTI) for the last eight weeks…
It’s Been a Bad Week
It was late. I dropped the TV remote on the bedroom floor. No biggie. I was sitting on my…
A Quiet Week
I could be in a fancy restaurant in central London rather than sitting at home writing this. Don’t…
New Year’s Resolution: Do What You Can, While You Can
There ‘s a top 10 list of New Year’s resolutions that are most commonly made and then…
Santa and His Helpers
The trouble with being a mythological supernatural being is that you begin to doubt your own existence. It…
On the Road
It’s 4 a.m. and, unsurprisingly, I’m laying flat on my back. Yesterday, I had a whale of a time…
Poetic Justice to be a Party Pooper
In my angst-ridden teen years, I wrote poetry. It was truly dreadful and should have disappeared in the…
What Keeps Me Going — and Smiling
Shooting the breeze after work has been part of my professional life for 27 years. We’re all winding down,…
The Case of the Worried Patient
Hypochondria grabs, and it’s very difficult to shake. I spent the past three days eliminating potential reasons for struggling…
The Weekend
The weekend should have started on Friday. My sister-in-law is over from France and there was the first…
The Blowout
It was one of those mornings the day after, when I was moving like a zombie before they became…
Everything in the Garden Is Now Rosy
About 10 years ago, in the days before my MS, I had a whole raft of self-imposed jobs.
I Don’t Know What It’s Called, But I Like It
It looks like a dog’s leash, but it isn’t. I put in “dog’s lead” and “disabled apparatus” into my…
One Day at a Time
I was going to write about something else, then my MS got in the way. Intellectually, I know…
MS and Retirement
And so the good news is that if you have MS, then you can get an enhanced annuity in…