Columns

By the time this column is published, I’ll be at the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers‘ annual meeting in Nashville, Tennessee. I’m honored to be attending as a representative of the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) Multiple Sclerosis Committee. Along with the other committee members, I’ll help spread…

I try not to attribute every new symptom I experience to multiple sclerosis (MS). When I was younger, I had an easier time attributing the cause of a new symptom: It was MS or something else. As I age, this differentiation is becoming more difficult. Recently, I experienced new-onset…

As I’ve mentioned in previous columns, I’m now pursuing a doctorate in educational psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. Given that work, 99.9% of my day revolves around typing, despite my multiple sclerosis (MS). My journey as a typist began in high school, when I enrolled…

If I haven’t warned you that bits of my past in the military would sometimes leak into my present as a Multiple Sclerosis News Today columnist, consider yourself warned. I was in the U.S. Army for almost 22 years, so it’s bound to happen occasionally. If I’d become an…

There have been so many times I’ve started something but was unable to finish it. There have been so many things I’ve intended to do, but somehow never followed through on them. The gate of my mom’s backyard privacy fence is broken. Half of it is missing. A dear friend…

Recognizing and valuing authenticity is an aspect of life I began to grasp only a few years ago. During the peak of quarantine restrictions due to COVID-19, I was forced to move back home to San Antonio from my on-campus dormitory at the University of Texas at Austin. Like many…

I turn 49 next week. The fact that I’m in middle age already is unbelievable. I don’t think of myself as old. My mileage might be a little high, but I’m not old. I suppose I could consider myself to be vintage, like clothing, or perhaps even classic, like a…

I have several big milestone events coming up, all within a week. My son is graduating from college and my daughter from high school. Additionally, we have my son’s nurse pinning ceremony, a graduation lunch, two graduation parties, Mother’s Day, and lots of family and friends in town for these…

Many of my personal breakthroughs and discoveries occurred during college, when I was living in a new city as a young adult with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). One of those “aha!” moments was understanding that saying no takes practice, but it’s a necessary aspect of life. A few…

Before multiple sclerosis (MS) took the normal functioning of my limbs, I enjoyed being in the kitchen — not merely to be underfoot or lick spoons and bowls, but to actually cook and bake. I won’t claim to have been a gourmet chef or anything like that, but I…

Is there something you now have that you once hoped and prayed for? I’ve been struggling with the demands of a new job for the past few weeks. As a virtual dietitian, I heavily rely on computers to meet with clients and do other necessary work. But staring at a…

I feel like I’ve been in this exact place, saying exactly what I’m saying right now. Have I done this in a past life? Did I dream it and am now subconsciously acting it out in reality? Or is my brain performing a fact-check on its memory system and signaling…

When I was initially evaluated for multiple sclerosis (MS), I was asked if I had a family history of the disease. To my knowledge, I did not. Once I received my diagnosis, one of the first things that crossed my mind, after recovering from the initial shock…

What’s a reliable way to wreck your mood? Fighting your circadian rhythms. I’m a recovering night owl. I used to get more done between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. than I did in the other 20 hours of the day. I routinely studied past 2 a.m. during college and…

Even as a small child, I enjoyed watching nature shows. They didn’t come on television often, but when they did, I absorbed every word. At school, I might not have been able to recite the Pythagorean theorem, but I could say with confidence that butterflies taste with their feet. That…

Upon commencing my undergraduate studies at the University of Texas (UT) at Austin, I pursued a major in prehealth neuroscience. I had decided to pursue this degree shortly after my diagnosis of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis in 2016, during my senior year of high school. My hope in choosing the…

Training to become a U.S. Army Special Forces medic included all the things you might expect, as well as some you might not. Although trauma was our primary focus, we also had to be well versed in routine medicine and have a working knowledge of other aspects of healthcare.

The title of my column is “Delicate Balance,” though I didn’t pick that name. I was telling my family about the opportunity to be a patient columnist for this site and mentioned that I needed to name my column. Immediately, my husband said, “The title is ‘Delicate Balance.'” I…

My graduation ceremony at the University of Texas at Austin had just ended, and there were swarms of people everywhere I looked. I was sweating profusely in the summer heat and overstimulated by the large crowds. Thankfully, my mom called to tell me where my family was waiting for me.

In case there was any confusion, “Chairborne” is not an advice column. Well, not the kind of advice that comes from raw wisdom, anyway. Most of my lessons are closer to cautionary tales than anything else. The only reason I can suggest avoiding any mistake is because I’ve already…

Given how much my life has changed because of multiple sclerosis (MS), anytime an opportunity arises for me to support an MS charity, I jump at the chance — figuratively, of course. I recently learned that the MS Society UK is organizing another of its zip line…

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve had to relearn how to walk. Learning to walk is a milestone accomplishment. But as you age, life finds ways to knock you down. Injuries, sprains, or broken bones may keep you immobile while you’re waiting for your body to recover.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is used to diagnose and monitor the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS). We patients can expect to have regular MRIs, although the frequency will depend on our age and disease stability. It’s important that we be comfortable during the procedure, as it…

I used to think I was immune to illness. Getting sick was what my patients did. My multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis turned this belief, and many others, upside down. When the chaos of the diagnosis settled, I realized that becoming a patient was the most profound lesson I could…

The Cambridge Dictionary defines awareness as “knowledge that something exists, or understanding of a situation or subject at the present time based on information or experience.” That definition perfectly matches the stages of my personal awareness of multiple sclerosis (MS). I don’t recall hearing much, if anything, about…

Where does the time go? Six months had passed since my last treatment, which meant it was time for another. After my August 2022 diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS), I was given only one option for treatment: Ocrevus (ocrelizumab), which is a disease-modifying therapy that’s used…

My adolescent years can be characterized by a series of naps, long-lasting migraines, always being sick, and never being able to donate blood, which my family and I never understood. My journey with multiple sclerosis (MS) started long before my diagnosis in 2016. Let me set the…

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…

As an active 3-year-old, I spent every minute of recess on the monkey bars. I was hyperfocused on getting to the other side. I’d fall and try again until my hands blistered from the hot metal in the Florida sun, and then repeat this cycle the next day. Grit is…

Hi! I’m new — not to having multiple sclerosis (MS), but to being a columnist. I’m a daughter, wife, mother of two young adults, dog mom, sister, aunt, friend, college professor, pharmacist, avid reader, nature lover, and an MS warrior. I was diagnosed with MS in 2014, although…