self-care

“Coping with Caregiver Burnout When Caring for A Person with Neurodegenerative Disease: A Guide for Caregivers,” published in the April 2017 issue of the Archives for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, is intended to give better insight into caregiver burnout, and what might be…

While few of us choose to become caregivers, many of us are faced with the task if a loved one is diagnosed with a chronic disease. The transition is a strange time for everyone involved, as the nature of the relationship changes for both the caregiver and patient. However, it is…

I am sure many of us have had instances where someone “offered” their advice on what is the best way to manage our illnesses. They are not medical professionals and many of them don’t suffer from the disease themselves. They present their beliefs as scientific dogma, often referring to…

I believe myself to be a person with great self confidence. It was a long journey to arrive at this destination, but once I arrived I knew I was here. I realize that chronic illness doesn’t only affect us physically, it manifests in other ways, too. There are psychological,…

Time. We all know it is important. Time is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “the indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present and future regarded as a whole.” In simple terms, time is life in a series of moments. Regardless of what is…

Does your MS fatigue and energy need a boost? I know mine does; having multiple sclerosis drains my battery very quickly. Add to that a terrible cold I had recently, and my fatigue has doubled, and my energy has left the building! While looking for a magic…

Last week, I attended the Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) conference in Washington, D.C. I had the opportunity to meet many fine folks who are hard at work creating everything from alphabet books for children to poetry protesting xenophobia. I attended panels on editing, writing…

When you live with multiple sclerosis, stress is unavoidable. Your first experience with the stress of MS is when you’re diagnosed. As you move forward, you begin experiencing not only “normal” stress, but also the stress of living with a chronic illness.   Stress…

Americans are feeling more anxious than ever. It’s not politics as usual, but politics as unusual. People who never were politically active find themselves raising their voices to make a difference. In the MS community, raising our voices is not something new.

January 2017 has proven to be a bit of a cluster, if you know what I mean. Holiday recovery, out-of-town trips for work, budget cuts, extreme weather and, of course, the social and political “chaos climate” all conspired to make me itchy, twitchy and tense! This past Thursday, as…

Recent weeks have been filled with enough political drama to last a lifetime. Wherever I go virtually (and now, even in “real life”), ideological division has been amplified to the extreme. Except … when I go to the multiple sclerosis online forum I co-administrate. Meet the people in my neighborhood The…

Have you ever had someone tell you “it could be worse?” They are making a valiant effort to comfort and console you. However, there is not much consolation in the words. They almost sound a bit insensitive. I have been told this several times. I think many people…

Grief can weaken our immune system, elevate our blood pressure, and affect our overall health. During a loss, especially one of the magnitude of a loved one, self-preservation is not always a top priority. For those of us with multiple sclerosis, the mental anguish that is grief can exacerbate our already…

I’m already tired of hearing about New Year’s resolutions. If you’re like me, you find that for those who spend their social media time listing goals in earnest, there’s a smidgen of luxury to their actions. After all, most of these goal-making champions are not chronically ill. They don’t have to think…

Our daylight hours continue to get shorter, as we get closer and closer to the winter solstice. At 4:15 p.m. I close the curtains and blinds, uncomfortable sitting on display in my living room as I continue to work until 5:30 most evenings. It’s difficult to motivate myself to leave…

Keeping motivated is a daily struggle, and honestly, most days I just don’t feel like moving. I feel better once I do, of course, but the motivation to move and be productive is lacking. Here are a few tips that I find helpful to help keep me motivated and…

Our days have gotten shorter since June 20, but somehow I managed not to notice until a few weeks ago. Perhaps it is because we had a late summer here in the Northwest, and could comfortably leave home without a coat until late September. That’s also the time that…

I have written nine articles so far with shared ideas of what has helped me in this overwhelming battle with multiple sclerosis. My experiences and successes are shared in the hope that others will be helped as well. This 10th article is about what comforts and sustains me the most…

I have to be honest. This is a complex subject for me. As a child I was taught to pray and to believe in what I prayed for. I truly believed that there was nothing that God and I couldn’t get through together. This conviction accompanied me into adulthood.

My MS Manager has been named by Healthline.com as one of the best multiple sclerosis (MS) apps for the fourth consecutive year. Formerly known as MSAA Self-Care Manager, the free application for Apple iOS and Android smartphones and tablets was created by the Multiple Sclerosis Association of…

There seems to be general agreement that achieving and keeping an overall level of good health is very important for people living with multiple sclerosis, or with any chronic illness for that matter. And one way to reach that goal, many will say, is to eat a healthy, well-balanced diet. It’s at…

The “Comprehensive Care in MS and Symptom Management” session at the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) 2016 Annual Meeting, included a different kind of contribution –  the presentation of a short film exposing the health challenges specific to Hispanic patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Intended to promote…

Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients using an interactive, self-guided fatigue management resource, developed by researchers from the University of Alberta in Canada, reported lower fatigue and improved cognition after three months, showing that fatigue self-management tools can contribute to the treatment of this common MS symptom. The pilot study, “…

I just picked up a T-shirt that says, “Eat Well and Travel Often.” It was obviously made just for me. Traveling to new places and seeing new things is something I enjoy tremendously. And enjoying delicious meals makes me feel pampered and cared for. But since I can’t travel to…

At various times during my life with MS, I’ve reached out for support from people with experience and knowledge about multiple sclerosis. Although sometimes I wanted to learn more about this unwanted illness that had burst into my life, I was also looking for people with MS to tell me…

Although it was over a decade ago, I still vividly remember the first questions I asked my neurologist after learning I had Multiple Sclerosis, “What can I do? Should I change my diet? Exercise more? Or less?” My first instinct was to look for a holistic way to minimize my…

A team of researchers from the Netherlands have developed an interactive web-based program called MSmonitor that offers multiple sclerosis patients a way to manage and better integrate the multidisciplinary care they require. Pilot data from a study of its use is detailed in the article, “The interactive web-based program MSmonitor for…

Biogen, a global biotechnology company with over 30 years of clinical excellence in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) research, has recently announced the launch of Reimagine MySelf, a blog dedicated to helping women navigate their daily lives while also dealing with the complications that come with a diagnosis of relapsing MS…

Keeping a journal may help patients suffering from severe and chronic diseases deal with their conditions, as well as with the stress and emotions that accompany symptoms. In a real-life testament to this, Mari L. McCarthy, who suffers from multiple sclerosis and started using journaling to cope with it, is launching…

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, autoimmune neurodegenerative disease that the biomedical research and pharmaceutical industry has yet to find a cure for. It is a progressively debilitating condition that manifests with a number of unpredictable symptoms that can greatly reduce one’s quality of life. In order…