Remembering my late father, who taught me how to live with MG
My dad was born 100 years ago June 20. It’s funny that June is Myasthenia Gravis Awareness Month, as he lived the last 10 years of his life with the condition. Before that,…
Together — Mark Harrington
A Boston native, Mark has spent 25 years on the faculty of the Dallas Independent School District. A believer that what Hanna Arendt termed “the life of the mind” is the richest gift we give the young, Mark continues to find inspiration and joy in teaching. Mark has been published in The Dallas Morning News, The Boston Globe, and various professional publications. His classes have been featured on KERA, the local public television station. Mark knows the MG journey is not solitary. Blessed with wonderful, loving family and friends, he hopes his writing will assist others as they navigate life with myasthenia gravis.
Featured Post
How studying history can help us navigate life with chronic illness
I grew up in Malden, Massachusetts, surrounded by history. According to the City of Malden’s website, “In 1640, the Puritans settled in Malden on land purchased in 1629 from the Native American…
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How the ‘Bob’s Burgers’ family helps me find humor, hope
Living with myasthenia gravis (MG) means living with a body that doesn’t always cooperate. Muscle weakness, fatigue, and frustration can be daily companions. The support and love of family and friends are crucial.
Life with chronic illness prompted me to discover who I really am
Living with myasthenia gravis (MG) has changed important parts of my life. It has taken things from me that I thought were permanent, such as my physical strength. My previous ability to plan…
When it comes to family, I won the lottery
In the novel “The Lightning Thief,” Rick Riordan writes that “knowing too much of your future is never a good thing.” Five years ago this month, I was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis (MG).
Battling 2 enemies: MG and the broken US healthcare system
Living with a rare disease is difficult enough, but in the United States, patients fight not only their illness, but also the healthcare system that’s supposed to help them. I was diagnosed with…
Even when life gets hard, ‘you still have to get up in the morning’
This is a letter to all those who read and appreciate the work of Bionews, the parent company of this website. Like you, I am a member of the rare disease community, and…
Coping with grief after losing members of my MG care team
Grief’s companion is pain. But in that pain, we can find richness. Holding my mother’s hand as she took her last breath was incredibly painful, but also one of the finest moments of my…
Life with an invisible illness can still be fun
I’m not the first guy to discover that myasthenia gravis (MG) deserves membership in the select group known as invisible illnesses. Lately, I’ve been thinking about the impact that life with such an illness…
Myasthenia gravis requires us to play the long game
It wasn’t my intention to write a column about exhaustion, fatigue, and the part they play in my life with myasthenia gravis (MG). But here’s what happened. I woke up yesterday and went…
Finding humor in life with myasthenia gravis
In the years since my myasthenia gravis (MG) diagnosis, I’ve learned to live with certain remarks that, though well-intended, can be hurtful. In conversations with other MG patients, I’ve heard about experiences like…
When MG brings bad things, we can become better people
Since 2020, I’ve been traveling along the myasthenia gravis (MG) road. Sometimes it’s filled with pain, as it was in 2021. We don’t usually think of MG as a physically painful disease. However,…
