February 22, 2024 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister How to ask for help ā and offer it Just three years before I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), I was on what was to be my last overseas tour with the U.S. Army. One day while dozing during a lull in a mission, I was awakened by the sensation of someone standing over me.
July 5, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister With a disabling condition, seeking help is part of independence I must look like I need help all the time. I donāt own a shirt or any other article of clothing that says so, and I donāt think I have a helpless look on my face, either. I smile often, sometimes genuinely and sometimes with my mouth formed in…
August 6, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias Getting Something Off My Chest May I vent, please? In the five years that I’ve been writing this column, I don’t think I’ve ever used it to get something off my chest. But I need to today. It’s about an experience I had at a restaurant the other night. My wife and I went…
June 19, 2019 Columns by Stephanie Towler Climbing Out of the Dark Hole of Depression Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic illness accompanied by various symptoms. Depression is one of the most common. Depression is a shape-shifter and affects one’s life in different ways. The dark hole Imagine one week everything is fine. You’re known for being a social butterfly…
February 7, 2019 Columns by Jennifer (Jenn) Powell Asking for Help with Secondary Progressive MS I have a hard time asking for help. Even when itās offered, my knee-jerk reaction is to decline. Only in desperation do I reach out for, or accept, much-needed assistance. I say I am OK more often than I am. I do things myself more than I should.
January 18, 2019 Columns by John Connor Do What You Can 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 on the floor and you no longer have the capacity to get up. In extremis, I then ask for help.
September 28, 2018 Columns by John Connor The Morning After the Night Before Last Wednesday morning didn’t go according to plan. I’m lackluster every Wednesday morn because Tuesday nights are myĀ regular work gig at London’s Comedy Store. I laugh too much, drink too much, and don’t get home till about 11:30 p.m. Still, I had a good sleep. My new…
August 10, 2017 Columns by Jennifer (Jenn) Powell Tired of Fatigue Many of us with multiple sclerosis have heard the saying, āI go to bed wired and wake up tired.ā This is quite accurate, as fatigue is one of the most prevalent aspects of living with MS. So often I hear from well-meaning individuals who,…
February 23, 2017 Columns by admin MS is No Excuse for Being Discourteous When Offered Help It was a trip, plain and simple, neither my leg giving way nor a fall. It was MS-related because it was directly caused by foot drop; the toe of my left shoe caught on the tiniest ridge at the bottom of…
January 11, 2017 Columns by Judy Lynn Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies Can Help You Find and Keep a Job At the time of my MS diagnosis I was a full-time graduate student with plans to obtain a joint Masters of Public Administration/Juris Doctor degree. After six years as a stay-at-home mom and military spouse, I was anxious to complete this next stage of my education and return to…