COVID-19

Crossing the Lemtrada Finish Line

I’m marking a big anniversary this month. It’s been four years since I finished the second round of treatment with Lemtrada (alemtuzumab), my final disease-modifying therapy (DMT). That means that, after about 60 monthly blood draws, I’m finished being stuck. Lemtrada is usually a two-phase series of injections, with…

The Building Blocks of Becoming a Busy Bee

ā€œSerendipity. Look for something, find something else, and realize that what you’ve found is more suited to your needs than what you thought you were looking for.ā€ ā€” Lawrence Block When the world was thrown into lockdown at the dawn of COVID-19, I was already an old hand at functioning…

Old Friends, Broken Chairs, UTI Admissions, and Redemption

The week started with a bang, albeit with a hint of underlying anxiety. Friends and former work colleagues gathered during the first days of spring to chat in my sun-lathered back garden in South London. COVID-19 lateral flow tests had all been passed. Previously, weā€™d spent years working together on…

Can I Really Blame MS for Everything I Say?

It wasnā€™t an argument; it was a reality check. I was happy, nay, self-indulgent. Within a day, the olā€™ stand-up show that I produced at Londonā€™s Comedy Store for 30 years had gotten another booking at a countryside marquee just outside the city. I mustnā€™t disparage, as itā€™s our…

More Than 50 Shades of Gray

Spring is rapidly approaching. Itā€™s warming up outside. The trees are starting to bloom. And inside our home, I am once again plotting to refresh the place. Out with old decorations, and in with the new! Declutter that closet! Donate the table and chairs that still look great because you…

Making Good Choices When COVID-19 Strikes

The past two weeks have been a bit of a blur. Our younger son caught the COVID-19 virus at school, and once we got a positive home test, we went into containment mode. While I took him to get an official test at a local clinic, my husband got everything…

Having My Own ‘Long Bad Friday’

In truth, my long, bad Friday started on Thursday afternoon at 5 p.m., although it seems wrong in the middle of a black, midwinter night to still call it afternoon. Still, if you live in Alaska, summer nights never even start! (OK, I’ll stop musing about the vagaries of Earthā€™s…

MS Hiker Laces Up Her Boots for Appalachian Trail

Reservations at a base lodge have been made, and a starting date is circled on her calendar. MS hiker April Hester is ready to start up the Appalachian Trail in the eastern U.S. It’s always an uphill hike for April, even when the trail is flat. She was diagnosed with…

COVID Booster May Benefit Patients on Anti-CD20 Therapy

Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with weak immune responses to COVID-19 vaccines are more likely to respond successfully to the booster shot if they are receiving an anti-CD20 therapy compared with those on Gilenya (fingolimod), according to a small study in Norway. These early findings suggest that booster shots…

As Omicron Spreads, I’m Keeping My Head Down

I’m pretty sure that wherever you are, you’re responding the same as we all are to the ravages of the latest Bond villain, that dastardly omicron variant of the coronavirus! OK, pipe down, Kiwis. The whole world knows the extreme lengths you’ve gone to avoid a massive COVID-19 outbreak. If…

More Answers About COVID-19 Vaccines and MS

A little over a year ago, I wrote about whether people with multiple sclerosis (MS) should get a COVID-19 vaccine. I was anxious to be vaccinated as soon as I could, but I was also concerned about how the vaccines would affect someone with MS. Would the side effects…

Ocrevus, Gilenya May Limit Efficacy of COVID-19 Vaccines: UK Study

COVID-19 infection rates after widespread vaccination were significantly higher among multiple sclerosis (MS) patients on Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) or Gilenya (fingolimod) than in the general population, but not among MS patients given other immunosuppressive disease-modifying therapies (DMTs), a data study in England reports. While information on patientsā€™ vaccination…