The MS Wire

News, info and tips for living with multiple sclerosis

Category: Living with MS

Will a New Contrast Material Lessen MRI Concerns?

mri machine

If you have multiple sclerosis (MS), you’ve probably had several MRIs “with” and “without.” The “with” means injecting a contrast agent containing gadolinium into a vein. The agent then travels into the brain, where it “lights up” areas of active inflammation that otherwise would be difficult or impossible for doctors to see. Using a gadolinium-based contrast agent is an important part of the diagnostic and disease-tracking process for people with…Continue Reading

Are You Ready to Deal With Disaster?

Hurricane Ian disaster

“I never thought a disaster would happen to me.” I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard someone utter that phrase during my four decades in the news media. Last week, disaster happened to me. About three years ago, my wife and I bought a condo as a wintertime escape from cold, wet, snowy winters in Maryland. Our Florida home is in Punta Gorda. If that rings a…Continue Reading

Some Accessibility Bumps on Elton’s Yellow Brick Road

Elton John's Yellow Brick Road concert

It wasn’t easy for my wife, Laura, and I to enjoy one of Elton John’s concerts on his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour the other night. Sir Elton was appearing at Nationals Park, the baseball home of the Washington, D.C., Nationals. Having seen a couple of ballgames at the stadium over the past few years, I thought there wouldn’t be more than the usual problems for a guy with MS who…Continue Reading

I Give MS Advice. My Wife Says I Should Follow it.

taking my own advice

I have to be honest: I haven’t always been honest. I don’t always practice what I preach. My wife called me out on that as we watched an interview I did recently about multiple sclerosis on Montel Williams’ podcast. “You should follow your own MS advice,” she told me. She’s right. Keepin’ it positive I’ve always been a “let’s all look on the bright side” kind of guy, at least…Continue Reading

What Would Freud Say About These Dreams?

psychologist

I studied psychology in college, but haven’t thought much about Sigmund Freud since then. I did the other night, though. I had a couple of puzzling dreams. Thinking about them after I woke up and putting a little of that college psychology to work, the puzzle became less puzzling. I think the dreams were directly related to my multiple sclerosis experiences. Take a look at these two dreams, and before…Continue Reading

Montel, MS and Me: The Podcasts

Talk-show / podcast host Montel Williams and I sat down a couple of weeks ago to chat about our experiences with multiple sclerosis. Montel was diagnosed with MS about 25 years ago. He’s very active in all things MS, particularly using medical marijuana as an MS therapy. We talk about that as well as some of the experiences I’ve written about in The Multiple Sclerosis Toolbox, my little book for…Continue Reading

Crying or Laughing but Don’t Know Why? PBA Might be the Reason

laughing and crying and PDB

I often see posts on social media from people with multiple sclerosis asking if crying for no reason is an MS symptom. It can be. Laughing for no reason can be one, too. Both can be severe, persistent, unremitting, and unpredictable. The medical name for this is pseudobulbar affect (PBA), and according to the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America, it affects one in 10 people with MS — and maybe…Continue Reading

Dits and Dahs Keep My MS Brain Sharp

Morse code key for dits and dahs

I speak Morse code. Dits and Dahs. It’s my second language, and I’m fluent. I’ve been speaking Morse code since I got my ham radio license nearly 63 years ago. (My call letters are KR3E.) At first, I received what was sent at a very slow speed of five words per minute, hearing  o-n-e  l-e-t-t-e-r  a-t  a  t-i-m-e  and writing each on a pad. Later, I would hear whole words,…Continue Reading

Dr. Amazon Wants You as a Patient

Doctor Amazon in your cart

Are you ready to buy your healthcare services from the same place you can buy almost everything else under the sun? Amazon hopes you are. Last month, the giant of online sales announced plans to acquire One Medical, a company that operates more than 125 medical offices across the U.S. and offers 24/7 telemedicine service in exchange for a yearly membership fee. One Medical’s vision is to “delight millions of…Continue Reading

A Shark Bites into Prescription Costs

Shark bites into prescription costs

My multiple sclerosis prescriptions cost me a lot, even with good insurance. Your prescription costs are probably also high, no matter what your illness is, if you don’t live in a country where the government picks up your drug costs. But now billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban is taking a shark-sized bite out of the cost of some of those medications. Cuban is an investor who regularly appears on the “Shark…Continue Reading