March 19, 2024 Columns by Ahna Crum How MS molded my life and taught me to balance grit and grace As an active 3-year-old, I spent every minute of recess on the monkey bars. I was hyperfocused on getting to the other side. I’d fall and try again until my hands blistered from the hot metal in the Florida sun, and then repeat this cycle the next day. Grit is…
February 29, 2024 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister Your perception of multiple sclerosis probably isnāt my reality There are several good reasons why you won’t see me in television commercials for multiple sclerosis (MS)Ā 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…
February 15, 2024 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister Caesar taught us about the importance of taking the next step Last month, I told you that while I’m not a psychologist, I’m fascinated by the subject. I should probably make a list of things I don’t do but still find interesting. One of those professions we can add to the list is historian. I enjoy reading and learning about…
January 18, 2024 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister With multiple sclerosis, the lesser of two evils is the one you choose My father taught me to play chess when I was barely old enough to say the names of the pieces.Ā 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…
October 20, 2023 Columns by Ed Tobias Musicians living with MS find inspiration in their conditions “Iām so tiredThe hammerās coming down againIām hardwiredAll the signals cross and double backBroken insideThereās no fixing anythingHow do i explainIām fighting every day to do the simple things?” The lyrics to “Hammer,” written by singer Susie Ulrey and the band Pohgoh,…
September 7, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister How do you define defiance while living with MS? 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…
August 24, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister Living with MS can often feel like being lost in the woods 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…
August 18, 2023 Columns by Ed Tobias A topical reminder to prepare for a disaster while living with MS By now, I’m sure you’ve seen the pictures of the wildfires that charred Maui, Hawaii. As I write this, a week after the blaze, The Associated Press reports that more than 100 people have been killed, and the governor expects “scores more.” Some neighborhoods are gone. People literally…
August 17, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister Parachuting my way through this life with MS 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,…
June 29, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister Living with MS is not just ‘all or nothing,’ but I kind of wish it were A few ā OK, many ā years ago, I played the lead in a production of “Oklahoma!” Donāt get excited; it wasnāt on Broadway or anything like that. It was a high school production, and I suspect I only landed the role because I could sing ā and probably…
May 12, 2023 Columns by John Connor Reflections from the front line: Home for 3 weeks and still sorting papers So Iām back home. Four monthsā worth of bureaucracy lay in front of me. In truth, quite a wodge had grown before I went into the hospital. Hey, I hadnāt been well in the months leading up to my hospitalization late last year. Thankfully Saint Jane ā my…
May 9, 2023 News by Mary Chapman DrTalks summit in July will offer ways to improve daily living in MS The online platform DrTalks is offering a free virtual summit this summer aimed at helping multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and their caregivers better manage daily life with the progressive neurodegenerative condition. The event is slated for July 5-11, and has more than four dozen speakers lined up. Talks…
March 8, 2023 Columns by Beth Ullah Living with MS involves ‘invisible’ symptoms that are hard to explain The “invisible” symptoms that are common with relapsing-remitting MS and many other chronic illnesses can be the bane of our lives. It’s difficult enough to manage them, as they’re constantly fluctuating like a changing tide. But in some ways, it’s even more difficult to explain them to…
February 9, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister How multiple sclerosis leads to what I call ‘microinjuries’ “scabulous adj. proud of a scar on your body, which is an autograph signed to you by a world grateful for your continued willingness to play with her, even when you donāt feel like it.” ā John Koenig, “The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows“ I’ve managed to amass quite the…
January 11, 2023 News by Hawken Miller Writer Recalls MS Odyssey While Living on the ‘Last Frontier’ The wing of the small aircraft dipped below the horizon, revealing a strip of sand in the middle of the Bering Sea. On one side, miles of ocean. On the other, a lagoon. It was 1995, and Melissa Cook, her husband Elgin, and their three small children were beginning an…
December 8, 2022 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister Being Able to Laugh at Yourself Is Vital When Living With MS I had a glass of wine thrown in my face on the evening of my wedding anniversary. I was taken completely by surprise ā well, maybe not completely. After all, the person who threw it has a reputation for that sort of thing. I was pretty irritated, though, because a…
November 25, 2022 Columns by John Connor The World Cup of Football ā or Is It Soccer? ā Offers an Escape From MS In the five years I’ve been tapping away at this multiple sclerosis (MS) column for MS News Today, Iāve so far written during one FIFA World Cup. My oft used trope is that “itās football, not soccer,” for our many U.S. readers. That is, at least, how…
November 11, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias These Home Accommodations Can Make Living With MS Easier What do you do to make living with multiple sclerosis (MS) easier? A similar question was posed to readers of the MS News Today Facebook page recently, and about 175 people responded. Even an MS old-timer like me (I’ve been living with the disease for 42 years and…
October 21, 2022 Columns by John Connor A Childish Adult With MS Looks Back on His Life and Has Questions “You married a husband and ended up with a child,” quipped I. It was first thing Sunday morning, and I was addressing my wife of 30 years, Jane. She stood with blue, latex, hypoallergenic gloves on her hands, ready to deal with my sopping wet pad. More on that…
October 11, 2022 Columns by Jamie Hughes Better Than Fiction: What Living With MS Has Taught Me About My Own Story A voracious reader since childhood, Iāve often lost myself inside fictional worlds ā often preferring them to the real one where Iām forced to live. This was especially true when I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) almost 18 years ago. When my eyes and ears were focused on…
October 7, 2022 Columns by John Connor No Surprise Here: Reflections and Ruminations on Living With MS There are moments in life that have surprising effects on us. I’ve had two. The first was when I was about 9, and my mother informed me that my headmaster had been told I’d disappeared after school. Fair enough in hindsight. I presume sheād phoned the police as well, but…
October 6, 2022 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister Don’t Let the Past and Future Be Obstacles While Living With MS While helping me get dressed this morning, my wife handed me a T-shirt from a dresser drawer across the room. It happened to be a shirt commemorating an event from my pre-multiple sclerosis (MS) past. Itās what you might call a ābeen there, done that, got the T-shirtā kind…
September 30, 2022 Columns by John Connor How Did I End Up in a ’60s Cold War Spy Thriller? The constant light in my cell burned through my eyelids all night. Every night for days now. Prostrate on my back, I couldn’t even turn over to get away from it. Why me? I knew nothing. Wasnāt part of any organization. Had no power. Couldnāt influence anyone. How did I…
September 23, 2022 Columns by John Connor The Smog of Tax Returns: An MS Fairy Tale Once upon a time, children, there was a very grumpy bear who kept a low-level, incessant growl going all day. And often, well into the night, too. If his family were lucky, this would only last about a week, but usually it would last a lot longer. He was snappy…
September 8, 2022 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister My Stubbornness Has Helped and Hindered Me in Life With MS Thereās a slight chance that I might be stubborn. I donāt really see it, but my wife, parents, siblings, relatives, friends, and former teammates all seem to think so. I personally think that theyāre mistaking my drive and strong willpower for stubbornness, but I suppose I respect their opinions enough…
June 17, 2022 Columns by John Connor Five Years of Writing This Column. What a Surprise Compared with living with multiple sclerosis (MS), the anxiety of what on water (Earth has always struck me as a misnomer as water comprises 71% of our planetās surface) I’m going to write about next week is but a slight fluttering. Yer, yer, I know; underneath itās…
August 13, 2019 Columns by Ed Tobias Keeping a Positive Attitude with Advocacy: Why I Write ‘The MS Wire’ This month marks the third anniversary of my column, “The MS Wire.” After writing two columns a week for most of those 156 weeks, it isn’t always easy to come up with fresh ideas. Tonight was one of those nights. With my deadline approaching, my well of ideas was…
May 28, 2019 Columns by Ed Tobias To Handle MS, Sometimes We Need a Little Attitude The other day, a young woman with multiple sclerosis (MS) shared her worry in a Facebook group that her disease would prevent her from playing with her grandchildren someday. Her concern got me thinking about how Iāve handled my MS and my grandchildren. My granddaughter is almost 5 and will…
April 5, 2019 Columns by Jamie Hughes The Unplayable Piano What do a broken-down, out-of-tune piano and multiple sclerosis have in common? Well, theyāre both disorderly and confusing, to say the least. But thereās something else ā they have the potential to bring about something positive. I learned this from a podcast called “Hidden Brain,” specifically from an…
March 8, 2019 Columns by Ed Tobias Things Your Doctor Didn’t Tell You About Living with MS A recent article in The New York Times hit the nail on the head when it comes to describing the world we live in with MS. But the article isn’t about MS. The Times‘Ā Tessa Miller writes about Crohn’s disease, a type of inflammatory bowel disorder. Like MS, Crohn’s…