Together — Mark Harrington

I like to think of myself as a rational person. I try to meet each new challenge with calm and logic. But with myasthenia gravis (MG), fear has a way of quietly slipping in. For me, that fear has taken up residence at the dinner table. The MG crisis…

I like to think of myself as a strong individual. Even before myasthenia gravis (MG) entered my life, I had, like most people, faced my share of challenges: the usual relationship issues, loss of loved ones, and so on. Unlike most, I underwent two years of diagnosis, surgery, and…

With more than 5,000 square feet of space, incredible exterior grounds, a swimming pool, a cabana, and splendorous decorations — especially at Christmastime — it was a house that couldn’t help but impress. Every room glowed with warmth and light. But on that particular morning, it felt enormously empty. I’d…

Looking back, there were signals that something was wrong. At the time, they seemed small, almost trivial, the kind of thing you notice for a moment and then forget. But hindsight has a way of turning minor details into important clues. The road to a myasthenia gravis (MG) diagnosis…

Turn on the news almost any day, and it can feel as if the moral temperature of the country has dropped a few degrees. Stories of violence, greed, callousness, and unspeakable crimes dominate the headlines. It can be easy to develop a dark outlook about the world and the people…

Once upon a time, I was constantly on the go. From the moment my feet hit the ground each morning, I never stopped. Then myasthenia gravis (MG) entered my life and work became impossible, so I retired. After that, many of the activities that once filled my days vanished.

Last week, I attended a friend’s birthday dinner. Whenever we get together, our conversations remind us why we value each other so much. We always begin with the basics, which change with each passing year. We still ask about things like families and careers, but nowadays, we’re more likely to…

Recently, while researching Irish history, I came across a commonly paraphrased quote of James Joyce that I’d forgotten: “Mistakes are the portals of discovery.” I think this resonates with me because living with myasthenia gravis (MG) has taught me how much human discovery comes not from soaring moments,…

Some days it feels as if the world has slipped its moorings. Around the globe, the news is grim and relentless, and living with myasthenia gravis (MG) can intensify that sense of instability. When your body is unpredictable, outside chaos lands harder. Lately, though, I’ve been doing some reflecting.

People have always searched for explanations when confronted with suffering that feels arbitrary or unjust. Before modern medicine, illness was blamed on gods, fate, moral failure, or contagion of the soul. In “The Plague,” Albert Camus described how people cling to meaning in the face of senseless disease, warning…

I haven’t written in a few weeks due to problems with my legs and knees. This has been the most pain I’ve endured since developing avascular necrosis in both hips. The bone destruction was caused by high doses of prednisone prescribed to treat my myasthenia gravis (MG). It led…

Thanksgiving season reminds me of something author Melody Beattie wrote: “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a…