Columns

I discovered my love of cooking when I was 12. While I enjoyed every part of my learning journey, my mom didn’t fully trust me in her kitchen, so I didn’t get to cook very often. I still live with her, so cooking for me is a rare occasion, which…

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 has on a person’s emotional health. I don’t want to end up in a dismal spot.

During a recent weekend, I did something special: I took my son’s girlfriend out for her very first pedicure as a birthday present. It was a treat for her — and for me. It was my first pedicure since my myasthenia gravis (MG) diagnosis in 2018. With MG, trying…

I started traveling as a backpacker when I was 19 years old, back in the 1990s. I spent a semester studying in London in 1997. As a naive kid from the South Bronx in New York City, I found it mind-blowing to be in countries where people spoke English but…

Seventeen years of living with myasthenia gravis (MG) has made me a pro at navigating daily life. I’ve learned how to handle both routine tasks and high-pressure days because being sick doesn’t mean I get to sit out on life. Over the years, I’ve worked on big projects, organized…

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 about my usual routine. I ate breakfast, showered, shaved, and dressed. Then I sat at my…

When I was a toddler, I tripped and fell into a wall. The impact caused a small wound on my forehead, and I cried out in pain. My twin brother, Aaron, who was napping at the time, woke up wailing, as if he were also in pain. My family told…

When I was a kid, I had a list of things I wanted to do when, as the adults used to say, I’m “old enough.” I haven’t forgotten that list, because now I am old enough. At 26, I’m still young, but I’m an adult, and plus, I have my…

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 mine. No matter what we do — buying groceries, tying our shoes, breathing — someone is…

Living with myasthenia gravis (MG) means making daily adjustments, and getting dressed is no exception. What used to be routine is now strategic. Every piece of clothing has to pass the test: Is it comfortable? Will it make my symptoms worse? Can I put it on without feeling exhausted?…