living with MS

Improving financial support programs for those living with multiple sclerosis (MS) would increase workforce participation and boost economic activity, concluded a report published by the Conference Board of Canada in March, which was Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month. Today, about 100,000 Canadians live with MS, making Canada one of…

As some have said, “Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional.” I believe I am an optimistic, grateful, and spiritual woman. With that said, I must acknowledge that I have an irresolute reaction when I hear that suffering is optional. Suffering is defined as the state of undergoing pain, distress,…

Despite increasing prevalence, multiple sclerosis (MS) continues to fly under the radar with only 40 percent of Australians ranking MS as a community health priority, highlighting the need for greater awareness. Estimates show that 25,600 Australians live with MS — an increase of 4,400 over the past eight years.

For Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month and leading up to May 30, World MS Day,  EMD Serono, Canada, is taking a virtual reality program to three Canadian cities to help educate people about multiple sclerosis and its impact. The biopharmaceutical company wants to help people better understand what it…

Every personality test and trait indicator quiz I take tells me the same thing: I’m a polymath. Basically, it’s a fancy Greek word meaning “a person of wide-ranging knowledge or learning.” I take delight in gathering interesting facts or stories. I take pleasure in learning for learning’s sake. (Hence,…

The problem with writing a weekly column is I always need to come up with new ideas. Luckily, or rather, unluckily, MS always throws me a U.S. sports-shaped analogy — one of those trickily disguised curveballs. I wasn’t even going to attempt to write this week. Not because of…

Pairing wearable sensors with a computer program enables effective monitoring of the way multiple sclerosis (MS) patients walk in “real life,” potentially helping clinicians to better evaluate treatments and judge disability, a small U.K. study reports. The research, “Free-living and laboratory gait characteristics in patients with multiple…

Six weeks ago, Abby, my golden retriever, had a seizure. I was sitting behind her when she began to rock; I have never moved so fast. I could only see the bloodshot whites of her eyes as she whimpered lightly and I began to wail. I intuitively hugged her,…

Members of Parliament and the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada are jointly celebrating May as Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Awareness Month. Both parties met in Ottawa April 30-May 2 to kick-off the MS awareness campaign #LifeWithMs. According to an international survey, it is estimated that one in every 340 Canadians…

Constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT), a rehabilitation technique originally developed for stroke patients, may also be effective in improving limb use in the daily activities of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, results from a Phase 2 trial show. Findings were reported in the study, “Phase II Randomized Controlled Trial of…

I saw my neurologist a few weeks ago for what was effectively an emergency meeting. I’d had the customary two rounds of Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) and still had a relapse. We discussed weighty subjects and there seemed, surprisingly, to still be some hope. It depends on the outcome of an MRI;…

The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) has just released some new guidelines about when to begin, change, and end disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) that are used to treat MS patients. The guidelines, published on April 23, encourage aggressive treatment when symptoms of MS first appear. They’re also patient-centric. And…

I’m a great starter. How about you? I start projects but often lack the time or motivation to finish them. Hence, I have bins full of yarn waiting to be turned into scarves and lots of seeds that were meant to be planted in the past growing seasons. It’s…

April is my month. The weather gets warmer, the world gets greener, and everything just generally lightens up. I was born in April. My wife and I were married in April. My favorite holiday is April Fools’ Day. I love…

At times I find myself speaking of and referencing my life before my MS diagnosis. My thoughts led to the creation of the following epistle. I believe that words are curative and the spirit absorbs what we speak. As you read my letter to multiple sclerosis, remember that you…

5 MS Patients Across US Talk About How Ocrevus Has Changed Their Lives There’s high interest in Ocrevus (ocrelizumab), one of two disease-modifying therapies that have shown promise for reversing some multiple sclerosis (MS) symptoms. (The other is Lemtrada.) So, I’m including this article. Keep in mind,…

It’s spring — at least, it’s supposed to be — so getting stuck at the airport due to snow was the last thing I expected during a recent trip to Grand Rapids, Michigan. But that’s exactly what happened to me on Sunday. I sat with thousands of fellow passengers,…

Really big things are going on in the world. WW3 is again flagged as a possibility. My world is considerably smaller. It’s mostly my bedroom. I can get out of it, but it takes a considerable effort. In the last seven days, I only exited it once. Last night, I…

Americans who want to treat their MS with a stem cell transplant have a tough road to follow. They’re forced to travel to Russia, Mexico, or somewhere else out of the country and to spend a lot of money to avoid the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s stem cell…

There is no guidebook to living with a chronic, progressive, and incurable disease. Even if such a book existed, it would only be somewhat applicable, as things change on a daily basis. We are all as unique as this disease, yet have one commonality: pain. Before my multiple sclerosis…

With apologies to Edgar Allan Poe, quoth the Lemmie, “Nevermore.” As I write this, the final brown bag of Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) has just begun to drip into a vein in my left arm. If all goes “as advertised,” this will be the final disease-modifying therapy I’ll ever receive.

It’s been a little over a year since U.S. regulators approved Genentech’s Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) as the first treatment for both relapsing and progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) — a disabling neurological disease now believed to affect nearly one million Americans. While the jury’s still out regarding the therapy’s…

My morning ritual of showering for a fresh start to my day has progressed to a once-a-week occurrence. Like everything else that my multiple sclerosis (MS) affects, less shower time is not by choice. I take sponge baths daily of course, but actual showers are reserved for when I…

The stars sometimes align, even for us atheists. My son was making a fleeting weekend visit from his last year at his university. It’s all we were going to see of him over the Easter period. He’s taking it very seriously and aiming for top grades in math. The week…

Do you have a question or comment about MS? Can you answer someone else’s question? We’ve just created an MS Forums section on Multiple Sclerosis News Today designed to spark conversations about our MS and to try to provide some answers from reliable sources when you have a…

The MS Focus: Multiple Sclerosis Foundation will be accepting applications through June for its Cooling Program, which provides cooling garments to multiple sclerosis patients whose condition has left them heat-sensitive. Although 60 to 80 percent of patients are heat-sensitive, there were no MS-specific cooling garments on the U.S. market until…

Editor’s note: Tamara Sellman continues her series on the “MS alphabet” with this column referencing terms starting with the letters “U” through “Z.” This is the last post in this series.  Symptoms of MS Uhthoff’s phenomenon People with MS are often heat-sensitive and experience overheating due to…

Today is Walk MS, and for the first time since my diagnosis, I am not there. While I am not one to feel sorry for myself, this stings. I miss being among the sea of impassioned orange warriors. I miss the tears that fall as cheers accompany me through…

After a delay in treatment in late December thanks to a nasty head cold, and the after-effects of contracting the flu in February necessitating another delay, I finally received my second six-month dose of Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) in mid-March. Much like the first time, the infusion was uneventful. I had no…

It is noon on Wednesday, and I am sitting in a chair in our living room. My wife holds two books against my hips, one on either side, while Stefani, my occupational therapist, measures the width — measuring me for a wheelchair. Like a lot…