The MS Wire

News, info and tips for living with multiple sclerosis

Category: Living with MS

Caverns, grandkids, my scooter and me. Does trouble lurk?

Luray caverns

My wife, Laura, thought it would be fun to take our grandkids, ages 7 and 9, to spend a few hours exploring a giant cave. I wasn’t so sure. Ten minutes into the excursion, I was wondering which one of the adults would be hauled out in an ambulance. Luray Caverns in Virginia bills itself as the largest caverns in the eastern United States. The pictures of stalactites and stalagmites…Continue Reading

Is your MS able to deal with disaster?

Disaster symbols

I’m sure you’ve seen the pictures of the wildfires that charred Maui, Hawaii. As I write this, more than ten days after the blaze, at least 111 people are known to have been killed. Some neighborhoods are gone. People literally ran from the flames. This past weekend thousands of people were fleeing a wildfire in Yellowstone, the capitol of Canada’s Northwest Territories. But my multiple sclerosis makes running impossible, and…Continue Reading

MS pain can be ubiquitous

Aaargh pain graphic

Multiple sclerosis is a pain in my butt — and other places, too. It hasn’t always been that way. For many years post-diagnosis, I didn’t notice much pain. But of the 43 years I’ve lived with MS, it’s hurt for the past 15. Usually, it’s just a dull ache in my lower back. I can also have a similar pain in my hips and butt. Once in a while, I…Continue Reading

A Big Birthday and Another MS Anniversary

birthday cake

“Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m 64?” Could Paul McCartney have imagined what life would be like at 64 when he wrote that iconic lyric as a teenager, or when the Beatles recorded it in their early 20s? I never could’ve imagined it when I was a teen, or even when I was 40. Later this week I’ll be 75, more than a decade…Continue Reading

Bottoms up: Drinking for my MS

Water glass for drinkinig

I’m drinking again, more than I have in years. It’s not the hard stuff, though; not even beer or wine. It’s just plain water. That may sound crazy for someone like me who has bladder problems due to multiple sclerosis. For many of us with MS, we think that water is something to avoid — mostly so we can reduce those gotta-go, gotta-go moments that have us sprinting for a…Continue Reading

Another MS checkup is in the chart

medical record

“What can Dr. Crayton help you with today?” I was starting my annual multiple sclerosis checkup with my neurologist, and before I met with her, I got this question from her MS nurse. I was stumped. I’d never been asked that before. I think most people with MS would have a list of things they could rattle off — help me with my bladder problems, suggest a treatment that will…Continue Reading

Putting wings on your power wheelchair

Wheelchair in Air4All seat in aircraft

I’ve done quite a bit of flying, for business and pleasure, over the 42 years I’ve lived with multiple sclerosis. It’s not easy traveling by air with my electric scooter, and I can’t imagine trying to fly with a 450-pound power wheelchair. Actually, I don’t have to imagine. I have some friends who use power chairs and they’ve shared some stories. Michael Morale tells me that, on a trip to…Continue Reading

A pet or not a pet if you have MS?

I’m just back from walking our dog. My wife, Laura, rescued him about a year ago. When she learned , his name is Toby, like Tobias, she thought it was a sign that he was the dog for us. We’ve had dogs before, but neither us is getting any younger or healthier. I wondered, could we handle another pet? Toby is very cute, but he’s very stubborn. When you walk…Continue Reading

Time for the beach, if we can reach it

Wheelchair at the beach

Memorial Day, the unofficial start of summer vacation in the U.S., is fast approaching. It’s almost time for some summer beach fun — if we can get there. Beaches can be difficult, if not impossible, to access for many people with multiple sclerosis. But times seem to be slowly changing. A disability-friendly beach house Last summer, my friend Sara Loud, the CEO of the nonprofit Accelerated Cure Project for MS…Continue Reading

5 hopes for the MS future

never lose hope for the ms future

A recent post on the MS-Selfie blog asks and answers this question: What is the “greatest unmet need” concerning multiple sclerosis? Professor Gavin Giovannoni, the London-based neurologist who writes that blog, lists five unmet needs, many of which I agree with. But those needs are from the viewpoint of someone who treats MS. Here are some thoughts from someone who has lived with MS for nearly 43 years. These are…Continue Reading