Aaron Francis, born and raised in New York City, was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis (MG) in 1999. He shares how he stays calm and keeps moving forward during an MG crisis.

I would find a quiet area outside, I lean on the wall, and I breathe. I sit there, I breathe in and out, and I deal with it. You gotta deal with it. You know, you gotta stay calm, and you have to get to where you’re going and go back home.

But sometimes it’s the unpredictability — that’s the thing that bothers me. When the weakness happened in my arms, it happened in my hands, or my eyes.

And I’m like, “OK, it’s kicking in. I really needed this badly. I’m going to the store, and I’m getting something. Do I need it that badly, or do I just go home and let someone else go? If I’m halfway to the store, I’m gonna go, but I’m gonna go slow.”

And you can’t care what people think. They’re going to say stuff, you know. They’re going to look at you, and they’re going to stare, but you gotta deal with it.

But when I know the myasthenia is bad, I don’t go. I tell them, “Look, I feel really weak. I just can’t go today. I can’t.”

My brother, Allen, went to the store plenty of times for me. My sisters — Renee, Sharon, Sherrie — they went to the store and got what I needed. They say, “You don’t go to the store right now if you don’t feel it.” I’m just dealing with a situation that’s thrust upon me.