Columns

Last year, I woke up to terrible news: One of my colleagues had passed away. Although I didn’t know her personally, I knew she’d lived with a chronic illness and was an advocate for those with her condition. Her death was sudden and unpredictable, and I felt numb and choked.

Six months can feel like forever. Using an elimination diet to detect food sensitivities can seem to last forever. Many such diets are restrictive at the start, which makes them difficult to stick with for long periods of time. But that’s sort of the point. In May, I started…

A quote attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha, says, “You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger.” In other words, no matter how much we feed it, anger never has a full belly. The more we feed it, the more we…

If you’ve read my diagnosis story, you know it took me a decade to find out I have myasthenia gravis (MG). But why? Didn’t I see professionals? I did. Weren’t they familiar with MG? They were. Were my symptoms unclear? Absolutely, or this journey wouldn’t have been so…

Recently I noticed that expressing gratitude results in a change in my body. It’s hard to put into words, but I feel warm and peaceful. Something is different — better. I decided to investigate this phenomenon. I wanted to know if the symptoms of myasthenia gravis (MG) are…

Close your eyes and imagine that you’re in a diving suit, swimming in a warm and comfortable lagoon. You find yourself drawn into the depths of the beautiful teal water by a siren. At first you don’t realize how far you are from the surface; you’re too enamored by the…

Author Jane Austen once wrote, “Those who do not complain are never pitied.” I was a mediocre English major in college. I won’t tell you I adored “Pride and Prejudice,” but I’ve always remembered that gut-wrenching line. To pity someone is to feel sorrow, compassion, and sadness due to their…

Even though my symptoms started early, I couldn’t make a strategic plan for higher education because I wasn’t diagnosed with myasthenia gravis (MG) until my second year of college. I’d chosen my dream career: physics. You might think of Stephen Hawking as the perfect example of a disabled person…

Do you prefer a window seat or an aisle seat when you travel? Before I got sick during my deployment to Iraq (2009-2010), I used to love to travel. I never had to give much thought to flying. I always went with the cheapest ticket or the best deal.

My twin brother, Aaron, has always been a fitness nut. When we were teenagers, he routinely invited his girlfriend at the time to come over and exercise with him. Exercise videos on VHS tapes were all the rage back then, so they’d perform intense aerobics in front of the TV…