Columns

On March 4, 1933, U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt told a fearful nation that “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” Roosevelt’s words didn’t immediately end the financial chaos in the U.S. at…

I traveled a long road to finally put a name to the crippling symptoms I began experiencing after my medical retirement from the Army in 2011. Once my diagnosis was confirmed in 2018, I began blasting my friends and family with facts about myasthenia gravis (MG) when…

“I’d trade all of my tomorrows for one single yesterday.” The soulfulness of Janis Joplin’s voice and poignancy of Kris Kristofferson’s lyrics in “Me and Bobby McGee” have always resonated with me. The despair and longing are raw. Is there any return from that wasteland? Against my…

Yay for June! Do you know why I’m so excited about the sixth month of the calendar year? It never meant much growing up except for the end of another school year. It’s not the month when my son and husband were born. Nope, not our anniversary month, either. I…

“Will my insurance cover it?” That’s a question I thankfully don’t have to ask when discussing various treatments with my care team at Veterans Affairs (VA). Its healthcare clinics have definitely gotten some bad press due to their care of our veterans, and I’ve been on the receiving end of…

Before I was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis (MG), I didn’t second-guess myself too much. In fact, I don’t think I doubted myself any more than any other person does. But after my MG diagnosis and all of the trauma that came with it, I became someone who…

I want to do everything! Especially after a period of time when I’ve not felt well enough to do anything. So when the stars seem to align and I’m feeling good, I do all the things, often to my own detriment. I’ll find the line of what I can do…

One common treatment for myasthenia gravis (MG) is intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). I was initially treated with IVIG for my symptom flares and exacerbations. Thanks to detailed notes kept by my infusion nurses at the Veterans Affairs (VA) clinic in Maine, where I received those infusions, and because of…

Hobbies can be a funny thing. It feels like some of us have many and could go broke supplying them, while others have no idea how to relax or do something for the sake of enjoyment. I personally have fallen into both categories at different points in my life. When…

“Stick a fork in me, I’m done!” “I don’t have enough spoons for this.” We’ve all heard various quips involving silverware. When one becomes part of the chronic illness family, they may adopt the term “spoonie,” based on the spoon theory, a metaphor coined by lupus patient Christine Miserandino. Essentially,…