Columns

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…

My wife and I both have medical backgrounds. She is a registered nurse and has actual credentials that have to be renewed periodically. At one time I had a card that said advanced tactical practitioner, but even when it was current, it didn’t count for much outside of…

For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to help others in any way I could. As early as middle school, I tried to identify a plausible and realistic career where I could fulfill this desire, and eventually landed on therapy as a possible career path. I wanted to…

When I attended the selection process for Army Special Forces, I had a number of obstacles to overcome, among them a psychological evaluation, a handful of physical tests, long-range land navigation, and assessments of problem-solving and time-management skills. I also faced literal obstacles, in the form of a 2-mile course…

While most people dread the longer nights of autumn and winter, I embrace every single minute of darkness added as we crawl toward the longest night of the year. As darkness takes over, that’s my cue to gather up all the energy I expended during spring and summer to…

As this is published, I’m surrounded by family. Some are cooking with passion and purpose. Some are critiquing and giving advice that always seems to start with the phrase “Now what I like to do is,” going on to suggest a better way of stuffing, or how many minutes per…

In the middle of my freshman year of high school, I experienced a bad case of optic neuritis, which I now know was my first episode of multiple sclerosis (MS). According to my neuro-ophthalmologist, I was legally blind in my left eye. My vision was mostly recovered thanks to…

Ever since I learned how, I have enjoyed reading. My tastes have changed a little over the years, as has the way I read. I like the feel and smell of a real book, but I mostly use electronic devices these days because I can more easily see them, hold…

Too often, I’d find myself amid joyful moments with loved ones, struggling to keep irritability at bay. At those times, my mind would stagger between living in the happiness of the moment or an overwhelming sense of overstimulation, annoyance, and frustration. Most of the time, the irritability took over. When…

In recent months, while seeking to balance work, home life, family, and well-being, I’ve sought strategies to help me tackle perfectionism. On the health front, I’ve faced major struggles with my relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, secondary adrenal insufficiency, and avascular necrosis. However, to this day, my perfectionism is the most…

My last column described how multiple sclerosis (MS) affects my feet, so today I’m writing about how it affects my hands. I don’t believe MS has affected my wrists or palms, but my fingers and thumbs aren’t “normal” anymore. My most prominent symptom is loss of sensation,…

About a decade ago, I got caught up in the home brewing craze. I don’t know that I qualified as crazed, but I had a lot of fun with it and felt that since it was probably encoded somewhere in my Hofmeister DNA, I should at least try it. One…

Relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) brings both highs and lows to my life. Sometimes these moments will fluctuate throughout the day, while other times, the highs and lows can last for days at a time. When I experience a sustained low, I’ll find myself stuck in bed with no energy…

The first time you try something should not be the moment you absolutely need it. During my time in the military, I often applied this concept to both performing a critical task with my nondominant hand and using certain medical equipment. In both cases, the logic of “I’m sure I’ll…

As a native Floridian, I’ve been through my fair share of hurricanes. Because they’re so familiar, I’m probably a bit too indifferent to them. But in many ways, hurricanes parallel my life with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS); each involves preparation, weathering of the storm, and adjusting to the aftermath.

Being diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis doesn’t necessarily mean that other health complications or conditions won’t arise. According to an article published in the journal Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders, multiple sclerosis (MS) patients have significantly higher rates of comorbidity and morbidity than people who don’t have…

Music and dance have always been my medicine. From decompressing during medical school to adjusting to life with multiple sclerosis (MS) or getting through motherhood, music and movement have never let me down. We all have that friend we dream with, making preposterous plans. For me, that friend was…

I had a run-in with a nasty, mostly waterborne parasite years ago in Afghanistan. I managed to catch it by, you guessed it, contact with infected water — not by actually drinking it, but by washing my hands off in an irrigation ditch and then sticking them in my mouth.

The company I keep has changed over the past 10 years. I used to associate with people who were much like me. We had a similar way of thinking and faced many of the same challenges in life. I was a part of an upper tier of the U.S. Army,…

After I was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2016, I thought I’d never find a partner who understood the complexities and nuances of my condition. For years, I wondered, “If I can barely comprehend the knowns and unknowns of living with MS, how could anyone else?” Oh…

My wedding band is made of tungsten and rose gold. It’s heavier than most, but I’ve had it on for 15 years today, so most of the time I don’t notice that it’s there. Every once in a while, however, I glance down at my left hand and am almost…

Most people take for granted the feeling of stability while standing on their feet. My invisible multiple sclerosis (MS) symptom is unsteady gait, one of my biggest struggles, but you likely wouldn’t know it just by looking at me. My unsteady gait is associated with the effect that…

Due to the nature of my work in U.S. Army Special Operations, or maybe just because of the nature of me, I had a couple psychological evaluations over the years. Don’t worry, I’m perfectly normal — if “normal” means the kind of person who has the right personality for…

I stopped driving nearly five years ago. That was probably six months or more after I should have. By that point, I was doing it mainly by using my truck’s cruise control and occasionally having to use my gradually weakening arms to lift my right foot off the accelerator and…

Well, it’s that time of the year again: flu season. I guess you could say it’s COVID-19 season, too, though confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 started increasing in late June here in Kansas City, Missouri, and continued to rise at least through August. Detection of COVID-19 through wastewater…

In the world of chronic illness, people tend to be perceived differently depending on the visibility of their condition. Some illnesses are easily noticeable while others aren’t, but both pose significant challenges to day-to-day life. I’ve been living with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis since 2016, and for the most part,…

Migraines are quite an experience. People who have them wish they didn’t. I occasionally do, but I’m hesitant to compare myself with others. I’m even reluctant to use the word “migraine” to describe mine, because while I have many of the symptoms of a migraine, I don’t have any…

Identity development is a deeply unique process in which people establish a clear sense of self. Different stages occur during childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. The process of developing an identity has always fascinated me because there are many different factors that influence us and shape who we become.

I recall one of my college classes from years ago, when the professor covered a subject that was rather difficult to understand. At the end, she paused, looked around the room, and asked if we all understood. We must have had blank expressions on our faces or our heads tilted…