March 21, 2024 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister I’m a disabled veteran, but sometimes it’s hard to explain I have not been kind to my body over the years. I was very active in my old life, although I was a little clumsy even before multiple sclerosis (MS) started affecting my balance. Active and clumsy aren’t a great combination. I accumulated plenty of bumps and bruises along…
March 14, 2024 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister When you have multiple sclerosis, let assistive devices assist you Aside from a few unpleasant moments, I enjoyed my time as a medic in the U.S. military ā so much so that when I began to slow down noticeably, I decided to continue in that field by applying to become a physician assistant (PA). I initially wanted to…
March 7, 2024 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister What do the principles of patrolling have to do with multiple sclerosis? The U.S. military loves abbreviations and acronyms. So many of these are learned during a soldier’s first year that, to civilians, a conversation between service members might sound like a foreign language. It can be amusing, but the intention of this method of condensing words is not to confuse. It’s…
February 29, 2024 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister Your perception of multiple sclerosis probably isnāt my reality There are several good reasons why you won’t see me in television commercials for multiple sclerosis (MS)Ā treatments anytime soon. For one, I’m not much of an actor, despite my brief moment of high school fame. For another, even though I wouldn’t go so far as to say that…
February 22, 2024 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister How to ask for help ā and offer it Just three years before I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), I was on what was to be my last overseas tour with the U.S. Army. One day while dozing during a lull in a mission, I was awakened by the sensation of someone standing over me.
February 15, 2024 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister Caesar taught us about the importance of taking the next step Last month, I told you that while I’m not a psychologist, I’m fascinated by the subject. I should probably make a list of things I don’t do but still find interesting. One of those professions we can add to the list is historian. I enjoy reading and learning about…
February 8, 2024 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister A decade with multiple sclerosis demands an anniversary celebration Valentine’s Day is less than a week away. If you haven’t gotten anything for your significant other yet, let me add to the holidayās commercialization by reminding you that time is running out. It really wasn’t my foremost intention to spur anyone into panicked action. This column isn’t even about…
February 1, 2024 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister How sleep apnea and multiple sclerosis cause me relentless fatigue I feel like I’ve written a lot of negative, maybe even depressing, columns lately. While multiple sclerosis (MS) can be a pretty negative and depressing subject, I’m normally a bit more upbeat. We’ve been having cold and gloomy weather lately, and I’d like to blame my low spirits on…
January 18, 2024 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister With multiple sclerosis, the lesser of two evils is the one you choose My father taught me to play chess when I was barely old enough to say the names of the pieces.Ā I wasn’t a child prodigy or anything like that. I never joined a chess club or competed in a single tournament. I simply enjoyed the game…
January 11, 2024 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister My nonprofessional take on the psychology of multiple sclerosis I’m not a psychologist, but if you’re a regular reader of my column, you know that I’m intrigued by the subject. I seem to be particularly drawn to unusual conditions and making amateurish comparisons to multiple sclerosis (MS). In my defense, MS has odd symptoms, so…
January 4, 2024 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister How good surveillance can help detect the early signs of MS About four years before I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), someone else inadvertently ādiagnosedā me. This person wasn’t medically trained, probably had no personal knowledge of MS, and didn’t actually use the words āmultiple sclerosis.ā Still, they gave me one of the best clues in my quest…
December 28, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister This New Year’s, I resolve to express more gratitude ā just not for MS The new year is nearly upon us, so if you’re planning to make any resolutions, you should probably narrow down the list. As I said last year, I’m not in the habit of making any, but I did resolve to foster a sense of hope. I still have what…
December 21, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister When you have multiple sclerosis, be sure to cast the right shadow I’m not very good at this sort of thing, but depending on whether or not you count today and the 25th itself, we’ve got about four days left until Christmas. If I still needed to get my wife anything, I’d be entering shopping panic mode about now. Fortunately, I don’t…
December 14, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister A lesson from my military days helps me manage holiday plans When I was in the military, I wore several different hats. A U.S. Special Forces team has only 12 soldiers, so we couldn’t afford for anyone to know just one trick, no matter how good that trick might be. In addition to each person’s primary job, everyone had to know…
December 7, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister With multiple sclerosis, a little guilt might be under the Christmas tree Counting today, there are only 18 shopping days left until Christmas. Unless you’re one of those annoying people who did all their gift buying months ago and won’t stop talking about it, the clock is ticking. I guess that makes me one of those annoying people who reminds you of…
November 30, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister Is multiple sclerosis everywhere, or am I just more aware of it now? I encountered multiple sclerosis (MS) for the first time in a Valdosta High School math class. Before my geometry teacher was diagnosed, I had never known anyone with the disease and, in all likelihood, was completely ignorant about it. I would hear the name again about 10 years…
November 16, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister Understanding multiple sclerosis’ ‘demotivational’ flash points I’ve warned you in previous columns that you might have to endure a rambling story or two from my military past. It’s just that there are so many lessons from the experience that pertain to my multiple sclerosis (MS). It was supposed to rain later that evening, so…
November 9, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister My multiple sclerosis has made me more suspicious As I’ve mentioned a time or two, my wife and I have three boys. Although they’re all under the age of 12, they’ve started to talk like the budding teenagers they are. As they mingle with peers more than their parents, their vocabulary in particular becomes less like ours every…
November 2, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister With multiple sclerosis, the right caregiver is everything There are a lot of things that I’m afraid of. That seems to come with the territory when you have a chronic disease like multiple sclerosis (MS), or when you’re a parent. At the same time, I don’t have any phobias that I’m aware of. To date, I…
October 26, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister Pretending to be well so we don’t look like we’re faking being sick Halloween is five days away, and if you have kids, you’re running out of time to have your costumes ready. My wife and our three boys have everything figured out, minus some finishing touches ā unless I want to dress up, of course. Fortunately, I wasn’t planning on it because…
October 19, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister With a diagnosis of MS, you learn to expect the unexpected I try not to let my life revolve around multiple sclerosis (MS), but there’s no escaping the fact that the disease affects every part of it. That’s a bit of a conundrum and often frustrates me to no end. If there’s a bright side to be found, it’s that…
October 12, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister How the 5 types of impostor syndrome can affect those with MS With my kids in school, me being retired, and, of course, the limitations of my multiple sclerosis (MS), I have a lot of free time on my hands. I’d like to say that I always use it productively, but thatās far from the truth. I putter ā if you…
October 5, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister How do you describe your multiple sclerosis to others? Back in spring, I wrote about the fatigue that accompanies multiple sclerosis (MS) and how difficult it was to describe and for others to understand. That’s true, of course, but really, the entirety of MS is difficult to explain. Factor in the variety of symptoms and the…
September 28, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister With multiple sclerosis, don’t worry about asking stupid questions I ask a lot of questions. I have to, because I’ve come to realize that I don’t actually know that much. Asking questions (even to myself) is the only solution. Oddly enough, though, learning new things doesn’t completely scratch my itch, as the answers just keep showing me how much…
September 21, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister Learning the hard way that with MS, no infection is routine I’ve never been one to worry too much about what my purpose in life is. It’s not that I’m incapable of being philosophical, or that I was ever too egotistical to think I needed one. I suppose I just thought that if I had a purpose, it’d work…
September 7, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister How do you define defiance while living with MS? Recently, I was asked about the design on the left side of my “Chairborne” banner. A friend from my previous occupation humorously noted that in the original graphic, there’s a skull in the center where the wheelchair now resides. I pointed out that in my current state, a wheelchair…
August 31, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister With multiple sclerosis, hindsight is accurate āĀ and often unkind “Being diagnosed later in life is like watching a TV show with a huge plot twist revealed at the end of the season and then rewatching it with this new knowledge, picking up on all the foreshadowing and getting upset that you didn’t see all of it before.” ā…
August 24, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister Living with MS can often feel like being lost in the woods Years before joining the Army crossed my mind, I was a Boy Scout. We learned all sorts of skills, earned merit badges, and, of course, spent lots of time hiking and camping. I have many fond memories of those scouting years, but one lesson I remember in particular was…
August 17, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister Parachuting my way through this life with MS Ten minutes away from the drop zone, we stood up and began the final preparations for the jump. The aircraft flew in anything but a straight line as it turned, banked, and swiftly changed altitude. This unpredictable flying technique was tactically sound, as it made the plane difficult to target,…
August 10, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister Multiple sclerosis makes it tough to deal with the heat of the dog days I like to look up. No, I’m not referring to my disposition, although I do consider it to be an improvement over what it once was. I’m actually pretty sunny, if you happen to think of “sunny” as burning, harsh, and damaging when you’re exposed to it. What I…