The MS Wire

A Shark Bites into Prescription Costs

Posted on August 8, 2022August 7, 2022

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

Disclosing My MS – In a Dream

Posted on August 1, 2022July 31, 2022

The other night I dreamed I was standing in a military formation when my leg began to twitch with an MS spasm. I couldn’t stay in line. The top sergeant yelled while the other soldiers laughed. Suddenly, the scene shifted to a balance beam, where I desperately tried to stay upright, but knew I couldn’t. So I jumped off. More laughing. In the dream, I realized it was time to…Continue Reading

Medical Marijuana, MS and a Gun – Are They Safe Together?

Posted on July 25, 2022July 25, 2022

From what others have told me, it seems a fair number of people living with multiple sclerosis (MS) also live with a gun. When I wrote about this a few years ago, I discovered more of these folks than I expected. Additionally, many people with MS use some form of medical marijuana. So should a person using medical marijuana to help ease their MS symptoms be allowed to have a…Continue Reading

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

"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.