Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

April 12, 2019April 11, 2019

The Drugs Do Work … Better Than My Right Hand

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

Last weekend a mother brought 4,000£ ($5,200 U.S.) of medicinal cannabis from Holland into the U.K. for her daughter with severe epilepsy. It was confiscated by customs. Last year ... Read more

April 5, 2019April 3, 2019

Going Mobile

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

In February of last year, I stopped. Walking more than a few steps was suddenly impossible. I’d fought, taken every medication and supplement possible, but I’d lost. Maybe positive ... Read more

March 29, 2019March 27, 2019

Always in the Kitchen at Parties

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

My nephew James has taken an interest in this column since having a starring role in it a few weeks ago. We were at his mum’s 60th birthday party. ... Read more

March 22, 2019March 20, 2019

Singing the Bureaucracy Blues

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

You think getting a chronic illness is as bad as it’s going to get, but then you quickly realize that you’ve been catapulted into a netherworld. There’s no stepping ... Read more

March 15, 2019March 19, 2019

The Antibiotic Time Loop-the-Loop

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

Julian, the doorman at the London Comedy Store, is giving me his biweekly telling off about drinking. It’s biweekly because he and the other regular doorman, Mark, take turns ... Read more

March 8, 2019March 7, 2019

Minority Report

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

In the earlier days of my MS, I could still walk a bit. It was not enough to risk the maze of an airport, so I traveled sensibly in ... Read more

March 1, 2019March 8, 2019

Hair We Go Again

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

I can’t quite remember when I got hooked on the writings of Jack London, but I don’t think I’ve ever quite shaken off his Nietzschean-inspired “Superman” ethos. It comes ... Read more

February 22, 2019February 27, 2019

Relapse, Relapse, Relapse

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

Relapses can be sneaky. They can scythe you down. I’ve been dealing with multiple sclerosis (MS) since 2006 and I only consciously remember two relapses. The first relapse was two ... Read more

February 15, 2019February 14, 2019

Stuck in Delivery Limbo Land

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

Take a minute … and relax. It’s been a fraught few weeks of numerous solo hospital visits, as my wife was first dealing with a dying father and then helping ... Read more

February 8, 2019February 14, 2019

Wrap Up Warm: It’s Colder than Mars!

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

OK, I’ve used a typical tabloid headline to draw you into a column about dealing with lymphedema. Well, the topic is not exactly sexy! Though my calves are now ... Read more

February 1, 2019January 30, 2019

The Hospital Trilogy

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

If MS was just about MS, it wouldn’t be easy, but it would be a lot easier. It’s different for all of us. For me, MS means ambulation is practically ... Read more

January 25, 2019January 23, 2019

A Voyage Round My Father-in-law

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

This is going to be a hard column to write, and quite possibly it breaks all the rules of column writing by being a tough one to read! I’ve ... Read more

January 18, 2019January 28, 2019

Do What You Can

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

One of the hardest things I’ve had to accept with MS is the necessity of asking for help. Pride and self-reliance dissipate remarkably quickly when you find yourself splayed ... Read more

January 11, 2019January 9, 2019

It’s Back-to-School Time

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

Well, it feels like it, at least. I just had the whole of the Christmas-New Year’s period off because of how the dates fell. If you only have to ... Read more

January 4, 2019January 8, 2019

What a Relief!

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

New year, new beginnings — not a chance. Theresa May still has Brexit as her waking and sleeping nightmare, and I’m still battling urinary tract infections (UTIs). Over the ... Read more

December 21, 2018December 19, 2018

A Winter’s Tale

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

If you think Christmas is just too stressful, relax — at least you’re not Santa! He’s had to work every single Christmas Day for the last 1,600 years. He ... Read more

December 14, 2018December 13, 2018

Betwixt and Between

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

Usually, I have an idea of what I’m going to write. Today, all I feel is a bit meeeeugh … Which is more a sound of ennui than a recognizable ... Read more

December 7, 2018December 19, 2018

The Right Hand of Lightness

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

There’s a joy in going on a long journey in which I get the luxury of sleeping through the whole thing. It’s practically magical. Or scientifically, like teleportation. I ... Read more

November 30, 2018December 11, 2018

In Real Time

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

So, “it” started on Monday. I have no idea what I’m dealing with. Is it a urinary tract infection, a relapse, a bird, or a plane? The superhero metaphor ... Read more

November 16, 2018November 26, 2018

And the Good News Is …

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

Getting started on any career is fraught with difficulty, and the trail that got me to my base camp was truly meandering. It was nearly as convoluted as that ... Read more

November 9, 2018November 14, 2018

Medical Marijuana in the UK: So Near and Yet So Far

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

As I’m writing this, my right arm is tight and my right hand is cramped up. I was out working last night and night work always shatters me the ... Read more

November 2, 2018November 1, 2018

How I Managed to Get a Scary Halloween Haircut

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

“You’ve had a haircut — very smart!” was the greeting at work. Yes, but it was in no way a simple thing. The logistics involved were really that: It ... Read more

October 26, 2018November 2, 2018

Every Day Is Like a Box of Chocolates

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

Each morning, I’m confronted by an adaptation of the conundrum faced by Forest Gump’s mother: “Life like a box of chocolates: You never know what you’re gonna get.” ... Read more

October 19, 2018October 18, 2018

Taking a Flu Day

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

Going to bed late and sleeping is reportedly a marker of intelligence. In that case, I am definitely something of a genius. So, it’s always a shock when I have ... Read more

October 12, 2018October 10, 2018

A Black Mark for the Black Cab

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

Sorry, this story is definitely parochial and about being disabled, rather than narrowly focused on having MS. It also turns out to be somewhat celebratory — albeit starting from ... Read more

October 5, 2018October 11, 2018

Don’t Turn Anything Down!

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

At the start of all of this, when I was laid low in the hospital by what turned out to be sclerosis, I was visited by my mate Nigel. ... Read more

September 28, 2018October 3, 2018

The Morning After the Night Before

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

Last Wednesday morning didn’t go according to plan. I’m lackluster every Wednesday morn because Tuesday nights are my regular work gig at London’s Comedy Store. I laugh too much, drink ... Read more

September 21, 2018September 28, 2018

A Pain in the Back, Part 2

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

Second in a series. Read part one. Last week, I wrote about solving my back problems by purchasing a mattress topper for my bed. It was a good thing, too, as I was ... Read more

September 14, 2018September 19, 2018

A Pain in the Back, Part 1

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

First in a series. So this is what an earthquake feels like? Well, it wasn’t that dramatic, but it was the middle of the night, and I’d been abruptly awakened ... Read more

September 7, 2018September 11, 2018

Lymphedema: A Growing Problem?

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

Now, I’m all for complimentary comments on my columns, and in the combative world the internet has engendered, the stroppy ones, too. But it’s when you lot start writing ... Read more

August 31, 2018September 7, 2018

I’m Too Busy to Think About MS

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

Well, it’s not a cure, but working hard sure takes my mind off MS. In fact, I’m so rushed off my feet (irony intended!) I’m not sure I have ... Read more

August 24, 2018August 29, 2018

Everywhere I Go, I’m Invited To ‘Take a Seat’

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

I knew I had MS nine years ago when I went back to see my neurologist. I’d had the lumbar puncture to prove it definitively, and I displayed all ... Read more

August 17, 2018August 21, 2018

I’m Busy Doing Nothing

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

Everything takes so much damn time! I’m strangely working — or at least doing things I purport as work, such as this column. That’s no different than before MS; ... Read more

August 10, 2018August 9, 2018

Plumbing the Depths

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

Well, this is going to be a niche market: A picture of a toilet should grab the attention of any plumber who’s now got MS and reads Multiple Sclerosis ... Read more

August 3, 2018August 8, 2018

Downbeat, but Upbeat

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

Most weeks with MS are downbeat. That’s hardly a way to capture a reader’s attention — all of us struggle. What we need is light to blow away the ... Read more

July 27, 2018July 25, 2018

The Graduate

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

The queue to get into Canterbury Cathedral in bright sunshine seems endless. The quandary of being Dracula strikes me — I’ll either fry in the sun or fry in ... Read more

July 20, 2018July 18, 2018

Phew, What a Scorcher

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

Phew, what a scorcher. The summer of 1976 was the last time it was this hot in the United Kingdom. My lasting memory of that summer was not lazing ... Read more

July 13, 2018July 12, 2018

Steering My Own Boat and Making a Splash

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

The U.K.’s National Health Service (NHS) turned 70 last week. In England, yes, we are mourning our semi-final defeat by Croatia in the World Cup, but to most of ... Read more

July 6, 2018July 5, 2018

Down for the Weekend: World Cup Fatigue

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

Hi, everyone. I’m absolutely exhausted. And it’s all the fault of the World Cup. Not from any sort of secondary exercise while watching games, but because it’s given me ... Read more

June 29, 2018July 6, 2018

‘Always Look on the Bright Side of Life’

Columns, Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor

I started out in my professional life as a journalist. This only lasted about eight years and feels like a lifetime ago — which it was. Though I was ... Read more