Coping methods

Ahna Crum wears glasses with orange lenses and prisms to correct for color discrepancy, contrast loss, and double vision. (Photos by Sarah Brewington) Day 16 of 31 This is Ahna Crum’s story: “A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.”…

Alex Ramirez stands outside of his home. (Photos courtesy of Alex Ramirez) Day 13 of 31 This is Alex Ramirez’s story: In January 2018, I started to feel terrible in a way I can’t put into words. I went to the hospital, and after multiple MRIs, I was prescribed…

Did you know that sunflowers symbolize hidden disabilities? Deanna Renee reflects on her achievements while eagerly anticipating the future. (Photos courtesy of Deanna Renee) Day 12 of 31 This is Deanna Renee’s story: At 17, when a neurologist delivered my diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS), it felt like…

Brittany Quiroz poses in a self-promotion photo for AHotMS.com. (Photos courtesy of Brittany Quiroz) Day 10 of 31 This is Brittany Quiroz’s story: It’s uncommon for your brain to willingly transition utter disaster into a greater purpose or even God’s calling for you. But for me, my diagnosis…

Amanda Olivier, left, and Sagirah Ahmed Norris pose with their medals at the Athletes with Disabilities Half Marathon in The Woodlands, Texas, in 2023. (Photos courtesy of Amanda Olivier and Sagirah Ahmed Norris) Day 8 of 31 This is Amanda Olivier and Sagirah Ahmed Norris’ story: AO: I awoke…

Sarah Doherty is shown in a selfie. (Photos courtesy of Sarah Doherty) Day 3 of 31 This is Sarah Doherty’s story: I never in a million years expected to have to deal with a chronic health diagnosis at age 28. What started as the loss of vision in…

Alexis Mendiola is shown during a treatment infusion in March 2023. (Photos courtesy of Alexis Mendiola) Day 2 of 31 This is Alexis Mendiola’s story: March 2021 will forever be bittersweet to me. Though my heart sank when my neurologist said those words we all hate to hear, I…

Getrude Kamuyu, in her cap and gown, stands with her mother, Grace Kamuyu. (Photos courtesy of Getrude Kamuyu) Day 1 of 31 This is Getrude Kamuyu’s story: At Easter in 2022, I developed sudden pain in my left eye. Then blindness started to creep in, moving in quickly. Three…

There are several good reasons why you won’t see me in television commercials for multiple sclerosis (MS) treatments anytime soon. For one, I’m not much of an actor, despite my brief moment of high school fame. For another, even though I wouldn’t go so far as to say that…

Valentine’s Day is less than a week away. If you haven’t gotten anything for your significant other yet, let me add to the holiday’s commercialization by reminding you that time is running out. It really wasn’t my foremost intention to spur anyone into panicked action. This column isn’t even about…

My father taught me to play chess when I was barely old enough to say the names of the pieces.  I wasn’t a child prodigy or anything like that. I never joined a chess club or competed in a single tournament. I simply enjoyed the game…

Engaging in online sessions of compassion-focused therapy, which works toward getting people to become more compassionate about themselves, may help women with multiple sclerosis (MS) deal with suicidal thoughts, a small study suggests. Compassion-focused therapy also may help these women overcome pain catastrophizing, which is a tendency to view…

The new year is nearly upon us, so if you’re planning to make any resolutions, you should probably narrow down the list. As I said last year, I’m not in the habit of making any, but I did resolve to foster a sense of hope. I still have what…

Remote coaching sessions to support the mental and emotional health of informal multiple sclerosis (MS) caregivers, coupled with online information, showed significant benefits after four months, according to a pilot study. These coaching sessions — known as psychoeducation — focused on information, support, and strategies for caring and planning…

When I was in the military, I wore several different hats. A U.S. Special Forces team has only 12 soldiers, so we couldn’t afford for anyone to know just one trick, no matter how good that trick might be. In addition to each person’s primary job, everyone had to know…

Let me introduce myself: I’m Mike, and if you don’t mind, I’d like to share my story. I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in August 2022. Since then, a lot has changed, including the loss of a 20-year career, worsening mobility problems, and the start of…

It wasn’t a good morning. I was dragging my cement-pillar legs around the kitchen and grew frustrated as I lurched from the refrigerator to the counter to feed the cat and the dog. I’d propped my two canes against the counter, but they’d slid to the floor — not once,…

I’ve warned you in previous columns that you might have to endure a rambling story or two from my military past. It’s just that there are so many lessons from the experience that pertain to my multiple sclerosis (MS). It was supposed to rain later that evening, so…

As I’ve mentioned a time or two, my wife and I have three boys. Although they’re all under the age of 12, they’ve started to talk like the budding teenagers they are. As they mingle with peers more than their parents, their vocabulary in particular becomes less like ours every…

Halloween is five days away, and if you have kids, you’re running out of time to have your costumes ready. My wife and our three boys have everything figured out, minus some finishing touches — unless I want to dress up, of course. Fortunately, I wasn’t planning on it because…

A patient’s ability to cope with and recover from adversity — called psychological resilience — was found to impact the observed relationship between fear of relapse and life quality among people with multiple sclerosis (MS) in a new study. Essentially, MS patients who had…

“I’m so tiredThe hammer’s coming down againI’m hardwiredAll the signals cross and double backBroken insideThere’s no fixing anythingHow do i explainI’m fighting every day to do the simple things?” The lyrics to “Hammer,” written by singer Susie Ulrey and the band Pohgoh,…

With my kids in school, me being retired, and, of course, the limitations of my multiple sclerosis (MS), I have a lot of free time on my hands. I’d like to say that I always use it productively, but that’s far from the truth. I putter — if you…

Back in spring, I wrote about the fatigue that accompanies multiple sclerosis (MS) and how difficult it was to describe and for others to understand. That’s true, of course, but really, the entirety of MS is difficult to explain. Factor in the variety of symptoms and the…

How do you start a column about depression that isn’t, well, depressing? That’s a question for me to answer rather than you lot. If you’re still reading this week’s musings, then so far I’ve done pretty darned good. It was a confluence of events that fortunately involved water. I’d…

Lightning struck at 3 a.m. the other night. The alarm system in my apartment blared — beep, beep, beep — for hours. The dog was barking, the cat was zooming, and I wasn’t sleeping. My stress meter was off the scale. We know that stress can trigger of…

Recently, I was asked about the design on the left side of my “Chairborne” banner. A friend from my previous occupation humorously noted that in the original graphic, there’s a skull in the center where the wheelchair now resides. I pointed out that in my current state, a wheelchair…

Years before joining the Army crossed my mind, I was a Boy Scout. We learned all sorts of skills, earned merit badges, and, of course, spent lots of time hiking and camping. I have many fond memories of those scouting years, but one lesson I remember in particular was…

Ten minutes away from the drop zone, we stood up and began the final preparations for the jump. The aircraft flew in anything but a straight line as it turned, banked, and swiftly changed altitude. This unpredictable flying technique was tactically sound, as it made the plane difficult to target,…

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a pain in my butt — and other places, too. It hasn’t always been that way. For many years post-diagnosis, I didn’t notice much pain. But of the 43 years I’ve lived with MS, it’s hurt for the past 15. Usually, it’s just…