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

August 4, 2017August 3, 2017

Itchy Arms and the Internet: Making Rash Assumptions

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

It’s been an incredibly bad few weeks, so I’m not surprised that I spent recent days wondering if I had incurable liver disease. Living with chronic illness, plus the ... Read more

July 28, 2017July 28, 2017

Going Solo… Sort Of

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

In my youth, I hitchhiked the breadth of North America ― Canada, from east to west. I had 16 first cousins in the country and only my parents back ... Read more

July 21, 2017May 1, 2018

The Mouth that Roared

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

After 10-odd ― indeed, increasingly odd ― years, I presumed I’d become something of a gnarled hand at MS. If you read about something on practically a daily basis, ... Read more

July 14, 2017July 17, 2017

Advantage Me: Now Serving, Wimbledon’s Centre Court

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

It’s Wimbledon fortnight. The tennis signifies it’s the height of the British summer. You usually can tell it’s an English summer because it rains for two weeks. Not this ... Read more

July 7, 2017July 7, 2017

MS Pipe Dreams: Dealing with Urinary Tract Infections

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

I’ve been considering writing about the fun, fun world of catheters. As this column is morphing into some sort of diary, let’s deal with this week’s medical procedural drama. ... Read more

June 30, 2017June 29, 2017

I’m an Only-Can-Do-One-Thing-a-Day Sort of Person

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

So, I recently signed up to join a new and much closer exercise class. The previous drive of nearly an hour each way had proved to be beyond my ... Read more

June 23, 2017June 22, 2017

So Tired of This

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

It’s summer in the U.K., and it’s hot. That’s cause for celebration for everyone but us. It’s actually the hottest June day since 1986. Heat immediately spikes my fatigue. ... Read more

June 16, 2017June 15, 2017

Looking Back in Anger

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

Back in the day, I always wanted to be a columnist. That day was so long ago it was before sunrise. In my youthful naivety, I never thought about ... Read more

June 9, 2017June 8, 2017

Living with MS: There’s a World Out There

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

One of the most dispiriting aspects of a chronic illness is that it traps you in your own world. Major events happen but these are filtered against the achievement ... Read more

June 2, 2017May 1, 2018

Lemtrada II: My Right Foot (Hopefully)

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

Read John Connor’s previous column, “Lemtrada I: This Island Couch.” Apologies for the pic of my edema–riddled right foot. If I put whiskers on it, my big toe could ... Read more

May 26, 2017May 1, 2018

Lemtrada I: This Island Couch

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

The latest drug media storm to erupt in Britain is “Spice,” which causes users to become living statues. Exactly a year ago, I became a living statue for six ... Read more

May 12, 2017May 12, 2017

Whisky Galore: Two Friends Walk and Roll into a Distillery

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

If I was writing fiction about two disabled people going on a road trip, I’d be pleased to create a character like Nigel. He’s stroppy, Northern (from the perspective ... Read more

April 21, 2017April 20, 2017

A Very Hip Story: ‘The Shower That Ate Me’

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

It was three years since I’d seen my best mate Nigel. The last time had been when we said goodbye at London City Airport after our three-day sozzled sojourn ... Read more

April 15, 2017April 28, 2017

There’s Something Wrong with Both of Us

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

There are a few moments when life changes. In my day, it was meeting your partner across a crowded room. Now it’s sadly the flick of an app. What ... Read more

April 7, 2017April 7, 2017

One Day in the Working Life of John Peter Connor

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

These might be the days of the gig economy, but I’ve been doing one every Tuesday for 27 years. My particular white van (for US readers the delivery drivers ... Read more

March 31, 2017March 31, 2017

Request for Tennis Lessons Leads to Academy Teaching Many Disabled

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

In the summer of 2012 David Bowie’s song “Heroes” became the anthem of the London Olympics despite Bowie turning down an invitation from British director Danny Boyle to be ... Read more

March 24, 2017March 24, 2017

History Conjures Up Electricity-Aided Walking, but a Too-Daring Pilot

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

It seems I’ve made it to my second weekly column. I was going to write about a non-MS physical impairment that had kept me down for a month. It’s ... Read more

March 21, 2017March 21, 2017

A Mountain to Climb with MS – in My Living Room

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

So, I’m lying on the floor taking in the stippled ceiling we’ve never changed in the past 19 years. My son,  also 19, is now at university. That’s how ... Read more