Engaging Thoughts
— Laura Kolaczkowski

Users of the disease-modifying therapy Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) share a common complaint: the length of time the infusions take. It may seem petty, but an Ocrevus infusion consumes nearly an entire day. My typical infusion involves checking into the clinic, being screened by the infusion nurse for any changes, taking…

When I think of multiple sclerosis and falls, I tend to think about people who are upright and walking when it happens. I hadn’t considered the risks for people who spend most of their waking hours using a wheelchair or a scooter. Many studies have looked at people with MS…

You know that the use of marijuana as a medicine and its derivative cannabidiol (CBD) is close to being widely accepted as a useful natural product when articles about its pain-relieving properties appear in Consumer Reports. Yes, I’m referring to the nonprofit magazine that provides unbiased ratings on products…

In the research world, references to breaking down silos abound, and we’re not talking about those found on the farm. These figurative silos are where information is contained and not shared outside of a particular area. Researchers work within their own organization, rarely sharing their work with others doing…

Exercise and multiple sclerosis are a natural pair and shown by research to be an important part of our MS care plan. We all can benefit from getting an assessment by a professional therapist and having an exercise plan customized for our MS, but accessing exercise in a…

I am excited and thankful to share with you a new collaboration between iConquerMS and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS). For several years, I have worked with the people at the Accelerated Cure Project (ACP), a nonprofit organization that is the overseeing body for iConquerMS, to…

In a previous column, I wrote about circumvention tourism, in which patients travel to another country to access a medical treatment that is unavailable in their home country. I wrote it in response to someone in the MS community who promoted travel to an offshore island…

Medical tourism is a term describing when people seek medical care by traveling from home countries to somewhere else. It’s an area of commerce that has existed for centuries, as people in ancient Greece once traveled to far away islands to visit healing gods. Medical tourism continues today, and…

Medical cannabis has created a dilemma for medical providers who care for people who might benefit from its use. I’ve been thinking more about this lately because my home state of Ohio will have legal medical marijuana dispensaries starting on Sept. 8. The law passed in 2016, and it…

Ohio, my home state, is wrestling with the nuances of medical marijuana laws that become effective on Sept. 8, 2018. My husband’s work email had an important notice from the Bureau of Worker’s Compensation (BWC) about this pending change, and as I read it, I thought that nothing really…

Last week, my husband and I attended an outdoor concert in a small venue that we used to regularly attend just a few years ago, before my MS affected my mobility. Our last concert there was two years ago, and although I was skeptical about going, the weather was perfect, and…