Columns

Hello! My name is Allen Francis. I’m a New York City native, former academic adviser, and currently a full-time freelance writer. Besides a need to lose a few pounds, a short battle with skin cancer, and some mild hypertension, I’m a moderately healthy person. I’m now a columnist for…

I’ve never been one to be afraid of insects of any kind. Growing up as a farm kid and then becoming mom to a boy helped rid me of all “ickiness” factors of the sort. Until the end of August, that is. I was outside The Nook (my business),…

I’m not ignoring you. I’m just ignoring the chance to talk to you on the phone. Cue phone ringing beside me. I look at caller ID and identify that it’s not an emergency. *send to voicemail* Then I wait and see if the caller actually leaves a voicemail or tries…

As summer comes to a close, with cooler air just around the corner, it’s a good time to reflect on the past three months and share my experiences. I also have an important announcement. In July, the Republicans met in Milwaukee to nominate their candidate for president. In August,…

I’ve struggled with body image issues since childhood. I don’t remember a time when I didn’t believe there was something wrong with my body. When I was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis (MG), I viewed the disease as yet another manifestation of my body’s faulty design. I recently discovered…

I’ve never understood how other people with myasthenia gravis (MG) can live in warm climates. One of the things that exacerbates my MG symptoms the most is heat. This summer, I’ve taken it upon myself to use all the tools I’ve acquired over the last 10 years…

For the past three weeks, my struggles with fatigue have greatly affected my life. I think others who, like me, have been diagnosed with myasthenia gravis (MG), as well as those who care for them, understand this experience. One minute life is rolling along and everything seems…

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when someone tells you they’re “doing the carnivore diet”? If you’re like my husband, who works in the fitness world, it might just be an eye roll. If you’re a vegan or vegetarian, it might be disgust. What if I told…

“Review scientific articles only and summarize the content to explain what treatments are available for a person with myasthenia gravis experiencing breathing difficulties due to diaphragm and intercostal weakness.” This was the question I posed to Microsoft’s Copilot software, the company’s version of ChatGPT, both of…

Soon after I was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis (MG), my neurologist told me that keeping track of my symptoms could be an important factor in successfully treating it. She recommended I keep a daily journal. She told me that MG is a snowflake disease: Just as…