News, info and tips for living with multiple sclerosis
My son and his wife and one of my grandkids have been fighting the flu. This is not a year to get the flu. The type of flu circulating in most of North America right now is the H3N2 variety. And, in the words of Helen Branswell in a STAT article she’s written, H3N2 is “the problem child of seasonal flu.” H3N2 kills more people than any of the other flu varieties.…Continue Reading
I was just monkeying around while on vacation a few weeks ago, amazed that the animals jumping between my wife and myself were actually listening to the commands of their owner. I knew that chimps and apes were smart, but seeing monkeys respond to commands was new to me. I had no idea how well some monkeys can be trained until I read an article in Neurology Now. There, I discovered…Continue Reading
Happy new year to all. The start of the new year seems like a good time to assess what my journey has been like since my first round of Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) back in December 2016. The road has had bumps and hills and dips. But, overall, Lemtrada has taken me where I hoped it would — a place where my MS seems to be stable and my symptoms seem to be…Continue Reading
I’m not familiar with Baltimore Research so I can’t vouch for them. However, this information was sent to me by the folks at Can Do Multiple Sclerosis, which is a solid organization. Since many of you may be interested this marketing research I’m passing it along FYI. Ed Baltimore Research has a study coming up that you or someone you know may be interested in. If you know of someone…Continue Reading
When writing about the challenges of MS I often share some advice that’s printed on a wall-hanging my wife picked-up a few years ago: “Life isn’t about hiding from the storm, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.” This dancing isn’t in the rain but this video, from the French TV show “Got Talent,” gives true meaning to those words: (You’re invited to follow my regular columns on www.multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com)…Continue Reading
Well, 460.75 miles (741.5 km), to be exact. When I wrote about April Hester in late September, the headline on my post was “She Has MS and She’s Hiking 500 Miles.” Well, she did it, hiking the Palmetto Trail from Walhalla, in the South Carolina mountains, to Awendaw, on the coast. With husband Bernie alongside, April completed the hike on Nov. 3. The couple had expected the hike to take…Continue Reading
It’s that time of year again. The time of year where I keep seeing posts on MS social media sites asking, “should I get a flu shot?” In my honest opinion, yes, definitely! There are certainly different opinions about this, but I think that my opinion is the same as that of nearly any doctor that you’ll ask. For example, here’s a what a couple of doctors have to say…Continue Reading
Thanksgiving is just a few days away, so I thought it would be a good time to repeat a few of my airline travel tips and add a few new ones. Get the wait-time app Needless to say, you need to get to the airport early on busy travel days. How early? In the United States, the Transportation Service Administration has an app, MyTSA, which will help you judge. It…Continue Reading
If you have MS, you’ve probably used a specialty drug. My first was Avonex, which I began to use about 1998. Several others followed. There’s no formal definition of a specialty drug, but these therapies have several things in common. First, they’re expensive. According to the vice president in charge of specialty drugs at CVS Pharmacy, the average monthly cost is $3,000. A CVS website article says that’s about 10…Continue Reading
If you have MS it’s probably happened to you. You have trouble walking but the few accessible parking spots in the lot are full. You find an accessible spot but someone is parked in the hash-marked area and there’s no room to get your chair or scooter out of your van. There are parking spots but the curb cut to the sidewalk is blocked. So, you mutter a few words…Continue Reading