Columns

  By now, I had planned to give you an update on my current multiple sclerosis disease-modifying therapy Ocrevus (ocrelizumab). But one thing living with multiple sclerosis teaches us is to not count on plans always working out as we had hoped. Timing really is everything…

“It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day and I’m feeling good.” As I am writing my column this song is playing in my head. I enjoy listening to Nina Simone because her voice is distinctive and telling. Her songs chant her feelings of despair and…

As we all know, MS is difficult to diagnose. Put another way, it’s easy to misdiagnose. There’s no single diagnostic test for MS. Neurologists use their clinical examination, the patient’s medical history, and lab tests. They also rely on MRI imaging of the brain and sometimes of the…

FDA Warns of Risks Linked to Gadolinium-based Contrast Agents Used in MRI Scans I had a brain MRI a couple of weeks ago and I asked the technician about the FDA warning about the dye that she was going to inject. She wasn’t aware of it. I…

Wendell Berry, a novelist, poet, farmer and environmental activist, has written a number of superb books. Don’t believe me? Go read “Jayber Crow” and shoot me a message. I would love to discuss it with someone again! As a person who happens to have multiple sclerosis, I…

There ‘s a top 10 list of New Year’s resolutions that are most commonly made and then most commonly broken. Lose weight, get fit, stop smoking (well, never touch hard drugs like tobacco), and spend more time with the family (they have no choice unless they leave…

Happy new year to all. The start of the new year seems like a good time to assess what my journey has been like since my first round of Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) back in December 2016. The road has had bumps and hills and dips. But, overall, Lemtrada has…

Editor’s note: Tamara Sellman continues the MS alphabet with the first in a series referencing terms starting with the letter “P.”  Symptoms of MS Paroxysms This term describes sudden and violent occurrences of symptoms in those who are chronically ill. The symptoms…

Like a lot of people with MS, I took part in the “Great Ocrevus Rush of 2017,” with the fanfare surrounding the release of the first therapy in the United States known to have some ability to stem the advancement of primary and secondary progressive MS.

In last week’s column, I shared what I called my ABCs of gratitude. In the past few days, I’ve had to revisit my list several times. This was a distressing week. Even more perplexing is my inability to determine the exact cause of my anguish. I could not…

The trouble with being a mythological supernatural being is that you begin to doubt your own existence. It was all “Marvel this” and “DC that” over kids’ toy choices these past few years. Dads tried to be above that sort of thing, but He knew how thrillingly pleased…

This will be my final column for this year because of the Christmas and New Year holidays. Rather than ending 2017 with another 500 or so fascinating words from me, I’d like to leave you, instead, with this video. It was produced by a group of young Europeans…

Editor’s note: Tamara Sellman continues her occasional series on the MS alphabet with this column referencing terms starting with the letter “O.” Symptoms of MS Optic neuritis This is a common symptom of MS, though not everyone who experiences optic neuritis…

  They say a near-death experience will invoke a montage of your life in a matter of seconds. Gratefully, I have not had the experience to find out if this is indeed a truism, but I recently experienced a mini-mélange of my own. I read the mail, more specifically the…

It’s that time of year when everyone is asking: What would you like for Christmas? Shopping for the perfect gift for me is a challenge because I’ve been around long enough to have most of the things I want or need. In fact, we have so much that at…

This year, I wrote several articles about gut health because, in addition to MS, that’s what I’m currently battling. Writing is cathartic, so when an issue hits close to home, pouring words onto paper … er, a laptop, is a godsend. It’s like having a…

One of the most frustrating aspects of my MS is a frequent feeling of tightness and pain. The sensations may be in my arms, legs, or even in the trunk of my body in the form of the “MS hug.” Gabapentin helps to keep the pain…

I was just monkeying around while on vacation a few weeks ago, amazed that the animals jumping between my wife and myself were actually listening to the commands of their owner. I knew that chimps and apes were smart, but seeing monkeys respond to commands was new to me.

Chronic and Neuropathic Pain in MS Patients Should Be Routinely Evaluated, Study Says The next time a doctor tells you that there’s no pain associated with MS, point them to this study. Yes, MS can cause chronic pain and, yes, the pain can be caused by nervous system lesions.

Christmas is just around the corner, and that’s why many people are on the fruitless quest for Fingerlings or hocking an organ to buy the new iPhone. Both might be the “hot” presents of the season, but neither of them holds a candle to the great gifts we…

It’s 4 a.m. and, unsurprisingly, I’m laying flat on my back. Yesterday, I had a whale of a time and now I feel like a beached one. I’m not in my own bed because I’m staying in a tres jolie bed-and-breakfast in Northern France. The trouble is the bed…

Be careful if you’re using high-dose biotin (vitamin B7). The biotin in your blood could lead to some false readings when you have that blood tested. The level of concern about this is high enough to warrant a warning from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. High doses of biotin…

(Editor’s note: Tamara Sellman continues her occasional series on the MS alphabet with this column referencing terms starting with the letter “N.”) Symptoms of MS Neurogenic bladder Many people with MS experience problems with the bladder. A neurogenic…

I am tired, like beyond tired. I make tired look scintillating, and as funny as that sounds, it is anything but when trying to live your life. My spoons are numbered, and by midday, I am usually through all of them. Before you deem me crazy, I am referencing…

I am on “house arrest.” Sort of. Let me explain. Earlier this year, I wrote Large and In Charge: Building a Better MS Care Team, a column about my frustration with my “MS…

Gratitude is defined as the quality of being thankful; a readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness. By definition, we can infer that, in addition to it being a quality, it is also an act. Gratitude is not an exact science, it takes practice, development, participation and…

Would you be more likely to stick to your MS drug schedule if being diligent lowered the cost of that drug? Biogen, which makes half a dozen MS drugs, including Avonex and Tysabri, seems to be betting that you would. It’s no secret that patients have…

Health Canada Approves Merck’s Mavenclad to Treat RRMS The European Union OK’d Mavenclad back in August. Now, Canada has come on board with approval for this oral MS therapy, which has been reporting very good success at attacking MS. How about the United States joining them? Apparently,…

In my angst-ridden teen years, I wrote poetry. It was truly dreadful and should have disappeared in the wash of personal history. Luckily, it was the mid-’70s, and in those pre-internet days, it was committed only in pen to scrappy paper rather than as a confessional to the…

You wouldn’t think that a guy who was diagnosed with MS more than 37 years ago would still be able to learn a thing or two about his disease. But that’s exactly what I did while on vacation about a week ago. I guess I really did know…