Columns

I flew to Detroit for work this month, then on to Phoenix to see my parents, and then back home to Kansas City, Missouri. But traveling by airplane has gotten more complicated for me because of my multiple sclerosis (MS). I don’t need assistive devices, so I know my…

When I could still drive, I enjoyed the experience. A car or truck was not just for getting from point A to point B. It was also about the thrill of the journey itself, and I wanted to coax as much as possible from the trip. That meant driving high-performance…

I spent most of February staring at a blank screen, the blinking cursor mocking me. Despite having a solid idea to convey and a column deadline looming, my brain was stuck in the mud of cognitive fog. I tried to force my mind to cooperate, but it was like trying…

The Army took me to a lot of different places around the world, and if I spent enough time in any one of them, I often found myself adopting local customs. In the deserts of Afghanistan and Iraq, for example, if circumstances allowed, I usually wore a shemagh, and sometimes…

I’ve noticed a lot of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) report that their disease worsens in the summer months, with fatigue and heat intolerance as common complaints. Not me. I seem to thrive in warmer weather, and I enjoy going outside for the heat. Instead, I struggle in the…

I was driving home the other day when something in my rearview mirror caught my attention: A giant pickup truck had flipped over in the fast lane of the highway. It did not look good. I pulled over on the left shoulder and ran to help, completely forgetting the back…

A friend of mine went hiking alone during the warmer months of early autumn. Before he left, he contacted several of his friends via a group chat and let us know when and where he intended to start and the location where he planned to camp for the night. He…

I don’t know if anyone else’s life works this way, but my life has a soundtrack. It varies depending on my mood and what’s going on at the moment, but at any given time there’s music in my background. These days it’s usually playing on one of the personal assistant…

My husband and I are both considering early retirement. We’d discussed it for the past five years but hadn’t made any firm decisions. Last month, we decided that we needed to get serious about planning for it. We met with a financial adviser for retirement planning advice at our investment…

Thanks in part to 2024 being a leap year, I’ve never published a column on Valentine’s Day. That won’t happen anytime soon, either, as the next time the holiday lands on a Thursday is 2030. While I’ve mentioned this holiday before, I’ve never written a column specifically about Valentine’s Day.

Note: This column describes the author’s own experiences with oxybutynin. Not everyone will have the same response to treatment. Consult your doctor before starting or stopping a therapy. A few years ago, I spent the summer at my mom’s apartment because I’d been living in college dorms and my semester…

The other day, my kids asked if they could go through the jar of coins on my dresser. It’s been sitting there for a while because, like the majority of people with a jar of loose change, I hardly ever touch it. They hoped to find some rare coins, but…

My cat, Lucky, runs behind me every morning and night as I walk to the kitchen cabinet for his food and treats. He meows nonstop and gazes up at me with his pleading doe eyes, convinced that I’m taking way too long to feed him. I make my way…

If it weren’t for multiple sclerosis (MS) and my practice as a lifestyle medicine physician, I’m not sure I’d be chasing after better health so vigorously. There simply wouldn’t be enough momentum to push me into action. But as there are silver linings to everything, MS has positioned me…

With three preteen boys and one soon-to-be 50-year-old child in the house, we watch a lot of animated television. On the occasion when we watch another genre, it’s usually a nature show or historical documentary. We recently watched the latter, a documentary on the golden age of piracy in…

Recently, a historic winter storm brought record amounts of snow to the northern parts of the Sunshine State. Some areas of Florida’s panhandle surpassed 8 inches of snow! It has snowed before in Florida, but this level of snowfall and ground cover is a first. Despite my immense excitement about…

I am a pharmacist and I teach at a pharmacy school. Being a healthcare professional, I understand the importance of taking my medication every day, which is called medication adherence. But do I really take my medication 100% of the time? Unfortunately, the answer is no. The World Health…

After today, I have only one more session of therapy for my current bout with depression. I don’t mean to imply that I’m getting chased out the door, or that more therapy won’t be recommended in the future, just that I’ve come to the end of my current program. I…

I’ve written several times before about how unpleasant it was to catch giardia while serving in Afghanistan with the U.S. Army, but I wasn’t the only person to get sick from drinking contaminated water. On one mission, we’d gotten up far too early to make coffee and had some…

The beginning of the new year is an opportunity for a fresh start, change, and personal growth. Even before I was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, I struggled deeply to allow myself moments of rest and peace, and that continues today. I’m aware of those struggles, but until now…

Happy New Year! Did anyone make resolutions? I’ve always tried to make one resolution every January, though I missed a few years when I was in a rut. At the time I’d thought, what’s the point? I knew I wouldn’t stick with it. That’s because my resolutions used to feel…

I think cold weather affects me every bit as much as hot does. The difference is that instead of turning into a weak puddle, I stiffen into a rock. It doesn’t get that cold where I live, but when we do have a few chilly days in a row, I…

The week between Christmas and New Year’s Day is disorienting. I don’t quite know what day it is or what I’m supposed to do while packing away a holiday and bracing for the next year. It was quiet after Christmas last month, almost as if time stood still and the…

We’ve begun a brand-new year, and normally that would mean resolutions, but as I’ve said before, I’m not exactly a resolution kind of guy. I don’t have anything against them and I do intend to better myself, but I don’t want the disappointment of failing to meet a stated goal.

For someone like me, who is retired and has three preteen children, the days surrounding Christmas and New Year’s feel like a liminal space. With no school or job to be at and no real schedule to keep, the days seem to run together without anything to orient them.

Being born and raised in south-central Texas, I’m no stranger to the heat here that dominates most of the year. But even after 25 years of living in Texas, I don’t think I’m used to it. While some people embrace and enjoy warmer weather, my body rejects it altogether, especially…

I’m losing control. I don’t mean that I’m out of control or spiraling in that direction, but I definitely feel like I have a lot less of it these days. That’s a real problem for me because my therapist said that one of the primary issues contributing to my depression…

I was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis at 17 years old, during my senior year of high school. At that time, the diagnosis was the least of my worries because my top priorities were senior year activities and college preparation. The truth, however, was that I didn’t comprehend what…

Between celebrating my birthday and Christmas, December has always been a month for gifts. If my wish list when growing up featured a relatively expensive item, my birthday and Christmas presents would give way to one special present celebrating both. One year my great-aunt took me shopping to pick out…

I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2014. Over the past 10 years, my MS has been managed by five healthcare providers. That’s not how I envisioned my MS care. I’ve had the same primary care provider for almost 20 years, and I naively thought I’d be…