For many years I have been fighting the battle of the bulge while trying to decipher and combat many food intolerances. Every year I seem to come up short in the battle with losing weight, but I continue to try to shed the pounds. There are many challenges…
Faith of the Mustard Seed
— Debi Wilson

Debi is a retired admissions and marketing director residing in Oregon. She is a mother of three grown children and has three grandchildren. She was diagnosed with PPMS in 2010. With her column, “Faith of the Mustard Seed,” she hopes to help and inspire others who are also dealing with MS.
When I was younger, I assumed that I wouldn’t require a mobility device until much later in my life. I wasn’t prepared for needing to use a cane or a walker in my 50s. My 2010 multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis rearranged my life in many ways. And having…

Debi Wilson -- Faith of the Mustard Seed
Lately, I have been reading more and more about the potential connection between the blood brain barrier and multiple sclerosis. I have been researching the blood brain barrier (BBB) to better understand it and share my findings with readers. The BBB is a network of endothelial cells…
The common cold is upon me as I sit here laboring to breathe, with water-soaked eyes and a rumbling cough. I am under attack, an enemy has infiltrated my multiple sclerosis-weakened immune system. The antagonists have found a warm home and they are fighting to stay. It is…
“Laughter is the best medicine.” We may never know where this quote originated, but it’s a good one. The benefits of a loud, robust belly laugh are many! According to many internet sites laughter has great short-term effects. When you laugh, it doesn’t just lift you mentally, it…
Grief can weaken our immune system, elevate our blood pressure, and affect our overall health. During a loss, especially one of the magnitude of a loved one, self-preservation is not always a top priority. For those of us with multiple sclerosis, the mental anguish that is grief can exacerbate our already…
As I was looking down typing one of my articles recently, I experienced a unique pain in my neck. It was one I haven’t felt before. It was a sharp electrifying pain that started on the left side of my neck, and propelled itself on a downward zig-zagging path…
Loss of hearing symptoms such as tinnitus are not usually attributed to multiple sclerosis, but for those with MS who do experience tinnitus, like me, they can be very annoying. The American Tinnitus Association (ATA) describes the symptoms as: “the perception of sound when no actual external noise is present.
Nine months ago I started the high dose biotin protocol. I did so in an effort to slow the progression of my primary progressive multiple sclerosis. This is the link for my first article in August detailing the high dose biotin protocol and my results at that time.
I’m sure all of us with multiple sclerosis have had at least one magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. Most likely, more than one. MRIs are designed to scan and provide detailed pictures of the body, the brain included. The test can reveal scars (plaque lesions) on the brain and the…
Keeping motivated is a daily struggle, and honestly, most days I just don’t feel like moving. I feel better once I do, of course, but the motivation to move and be productive is lacking. Here are a few tips that I find helpful to help keep me motivated and…
My first encounter with “Why bother?” was in 2011. My whole family had met in Maui to celebrate my daughter Amber’s wedding. It also was my first travel since my 2010 primary progressive multiple sclerosis diagnosis, and my first trip with a wheelchair. I didn’t realize when you fly…
I am thankful for a lot of things in my life and my multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis is one of them. Before learning it was MS, I was on a very long roller-coaster ride of unexplained symptoms. Test after test came back normal. Yet, I still had weak…