Guest Voices

Chronic illness rarely announces itself with clarity. Instead, it unfolds quietly, often disguised as fatigue, stress, or temporary discomfort. My experience with myasthenia gravis (MG) began in October 2020, shortly after giving birth. It was a period I had expected to be defined by recovery and bonding. Instead,…

Note: This column describes the author’s own experiences with Mestinon (pyridostigmine bromide). Not everyone will have the same response to treatment. Consult your doctor before starting or stopping a therapy. I started noticing slight muscle weakness about six months before I began to seriously think that something might be wrong.

“You will never amount to anything” and “useless” are words that were etched into my mind since I was very young. Difficulty breathing, chewing, swallowing, and speaking are just some of the symptoms I experience every day. Because of these, I once came close to believing those words. Maybe…

Those of us with myasthenia gravis (MG) often discuss the symptoms we experience and spend considerable time planning around them and managing their impact on our daily lives. MG literature is full of strategies for coping with muscle weakness and poor vision or avoiding triggering our condition, but we…

Tears gathered in my eyes as I read the disappointing visit summary from a neurology appointment. Being a seronegative myasthenia gravis (MG) patient, I’m leery about seeing neurologists for fear they will dismiss the diagnosis that took years for me to get, but I left the appointment pleasantly…

I was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis (MG) a month before I was supposed to start my bachelor’s program in Amsterdam, Netherlands. I had just finished high school and was dealing with numerous medical tests and doctor appointments when I had to learn how to cope with chronic illness. But…

When I was 26 years old, my life as I knew it came to a screeching halt. It started one evening in March 2023, when I came home from a party and noticed that my eye looked droopy. It was the first symptom of something that turned out to…

My journey with myasthenia gravis (MG) began when I was only 13 years old. At first, I experienced weakness in my arms and legs, which I thought was just normal tiredness from being active in school and playing a lot. I ignored it, but as the months passed, more…

For most of my life, I’ve dealt with deep depression, often lasting for months rather than a couple of weeks. I never imagined that I had bipolar disorder because I’d only felt down and never a more hyper up. At age 70, however, my life today is a balancing…

Stephen V. Smith makes his home in the Appalachian region of northeastern Alabama, where he writes about ways to pursue a rare life. He’s a husband, father, and pawpaw who loves his family, the arts, and nature. A former newspaper journalist, he built a communications agency, landed it on the…