The MS Wire

Travel With Medications? Know Before You Go

Posted on July 18, 2022July 18, 2022

The case of Women’s National Basketball Association star Brittney Griner is an important reminder for all of us who travel with medications: What you might be able to do in your home country, might not be the case in another. And the penalty could be severe. Griner was detained by Russian officials at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport on Feb. 17. Russian authorities claimed she was carrying vape cartridges in her…Continue Reading

My Book Gets a Nice Review

Posted on July 7, 2022July 6, 2022

This is my book. It's designed for MS "newbies" but it's great info for everyone. A paperback and an ebook are available on Amazon.

I’m delighted to share with you some quotes from a review that The Multiple Sclerosis Toolbox has just received from columnist/moderator Tamara Sellman on the Multiplesclerosis.net website. Some highlights include: “This book lives up to its promise. It provides a simple set of ‘tools’ captured in chapter form, each one focusing on a different relevant aspect of understanding and living with the disease.” “People newly diagnosed with MS will truly…Continue Reading

A Neck Fan Helps Cool My MS

Posted on July 4, 2022July 3, 2022

OK, I know I look silly wearing a neck fan — maybe even scary — but the Father’s Day gift I received from my son and his family is really cool, especially for someone with multiple sclerosis. Just in time for the fun in the sun summer, I can now touch a button and select from three speeds of “ah” to surround my neck and tickle my ears. For people…Continue Reading

I’m Giving Three MS Drugs a Second Chance

Posted on June 27, 2022June 26, 2022

Over the many years I’ve lived with multiple sclerosis I’ve used several MS drugs to treat my symptoms. Some have helped, some haven’t, and some worked at first but then lost their efficacy. I recently returned to three MS drugs that I’d stopped using for various reasons. Here’s why. Provigil Provigil (modafinil) is a medication that reduces fatigue, one of my most troubling symptoms. For many years I used modafinil,…Continue Reading

She Told the Recruiter About Her Chronic Illness and She Got the Job

Posted on June 21, 2022June 20, 2022

It’s a decision most of us with a chronic illness have to make sooner or later: When do we disclose our illness, and to whom, and how do we do it? Thirty-one-year-old Katie Coleman faced that decision not long ago. Coleman has stage 4 kidney cancer and, in April, she was being interviewed for a software developer’s job she wanted. To tell or not to tell, that was the question.…Continue Reading

Medical Marijuana for MS Pain – Yes or No?

Posted on June 13, 2022June 12, 2022

Will your doctor approve a medical marijuana (MMJ) card for you? Two of mine will and one won’t. The doctor who won’t, a primary care physician who works within a medical group, told me it’s the group’s policy. The problem, she explained, is that there are no guidelines. How do you know what to prescribe if you can’t determine the marijuana’s potency or understand how the balance between THC and…Continue Reading

Florida to Maryland With no (Bladder) Accidents

Posted on June 6, 2022June 5, 2022

I’m back in Maryland. After two days — 16 hours of it spent on the road — and 1,104 miles, not a single accident. My bladder control meds must’ve worked. The semiannual trip my wife and I take between Florida’s southwest coast and the suburbs of Washington, D.C. is never easy, particularly because we travel with a cat and a dog. Getting in and out of hotels with two pets,…Continue Reading

A Busted Cane Sends Me Searching for Something New

Posted on May 30, 2022May 28, 2022

My cane mutinied. I’ve been using canes for about 20 years — first one, and then a pair. I’m tough on them and put a lot of weight on them. I take them out in the heat, cold, and rain. I force them to rest on the scorching cement when I go for a swim. It’s not easy being one of my canes, so it’s no wonder that, a few…Continue Reading

Guess What? Your Medical Debt May be Cancelled.

Posted on May 23, 2022May 23, 2022

It may sound like a joke or a scam, but there’s a nonprofit organization called RIP Medical Debt that might pay off your medical debt. Yep, all of it. According to the organization’s website, RIP Medical Debt has paid off more than $6.7 billion of other people’s medical bills over the past eight years. Healthcare costs take a big chunk out of people’s budgets. That’s particularly true for people being…Continue Reading

Good News for MS Folks. NIH Joins Search for EBV Vaccine.

Posted on May 16, 2022May 13, 2022

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is joining the search for a vaccine to attack the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). This is a big deal for people with multiple sclerosis, because carrying the virus is thought to play a significant role in the development of MS. In fact, research published earlier this year by Harvard scientists concludes that a previous EBV infection may increase a person’s MS risk by 32 times.…Continue Reading

"People newly diagnosed with MS will truly benefit from this book, while those of us who’ve lived with MS for a while will wish we’d had it ourselves!…Neurologists should consider keeping a copy of this book in their waiting room because their patients are going to need it." - Tamara K. Sellman, reviewing for Multiple Sclerosis.net.

The Multiple Sclerosis Toolbox is designed for MS "newbies" but it's great info for everyone. I combine more than 40 years of living with MS with some easy to understand info about diagnosis, treatments, visiting the neuro, relationships, mobility aids, travel and more…a lot of what you get in this blog. A paperback and an e-book are available on Amazon.