News, info and tips for living with multiple sclerosis
April Hester has MS. She was diagnosed in 1996, just after she turned 20 years old. Like many of us, April has balance and fatigue issues. Her legs can become tired, her foot sometimes drops and she falls a lot. But unlike many of us, April and her husband Bernie are in the middle of a walk. More accurately, it’s a hike — a 500-mile hike, from Walhalla in the…Continue Reading
I’ve been using a Bioness L300 for just over five years to counter my foot drop. Without the L300 strapped to my left leg, it’s difficult for me to walk more than 25 or 30 steps, even with two canes. The L300 is a functional electronic stimulator (FES). Each time I start to lift my left leg to walk, it sends a low-intensity electrical pulse down a nerve that runs…Continue Reading
It’s 7 in the morning and it’s raining cats and dogs. I need to walk our dog and the thought of it is not very appealing. We live in a condo, so this activity requires getting dressed, squatting down to feed Joey, squatting again to get him hooked up with his leash, getting my rain gear on and going down the elevator. Not a big deal for most folks, but…Continue Reading
Am I having an MS relapse? I saw that question asked the other day on one of the social sites I follow. At first, I thought, “Gee, doesn’t everyone with MS know when they’re having a relapse?” Then I realized that for several years after I was diagnosed, I was never sure if what was happening to me was technically a relapse and worth a call to the doctor. I’d wind…Continue Reading
A lot of people on the various MS social media groups that I follow are worried about their health and drug insurance…losing it, not being able to afford it, etc. The National MS Society and Can-Do MS have scheduled an insurance webinar this coming Tuesday and it looks like it will provide some good info. You can register by clicking the “RSVP” tab below: Common Health Insurance Problems in MS:…Continue Reading
The state where I live has legalized medical marijuana (MMJ) and it’s getting ready to open state-licensed marijuana dispensaries. So, I’ve been thinking about using MMJ to treat some of my MS symptoms. How can MMJ help MS patients? A 2012 study by researchers at the University of Plymouth in the U.K. reported improvement in the muscle spasms and pain of MS patients. There have been other reports of reduced…Continue Reading
Insurance companies want people to use generics, rather than the more expensive brand-name drugs, right? Maybe not. Because, at least in some cases, they’re doing just the opposite. Some patients are being forced to use brand-name drugs even when those drugs have generic equivalents. It happened to my wife last week. Not surprisingly, that means that some of us with MS could wind up having to dig deeper into…Continue Reading
It’s one of those questions that all of us with MS get. And it’s one that most of us with MS don’t like to answer. How do you respond when someone asks you “are you doing OK?” #1 You can say “Yes, I’m fine, thanks,” even if you’re dragging and defiantly not OK, and be done with it. #2 You can be honest about how you’re feeling and open up…Continue Reading
During a routine exam with my neurologist recently, I asked her a question I’d never thought to ask before: “Why do you order regular MRIs of my brain, but not of my spine?” Interestingly, within a few days of my exam, a Harvard Med School study was released that addressed a similar question: Is there always a link between the level of physical disability in some MS patients and the…Continue Reading
About a year ago, I first wrote about something called an Ogo. It was just in the development phase then, but it was the neatest thing I’d ever seen for getting around when your legs can’t do the job. You don’t need to use your arms, either. Just bend in the direction that you want to travel, like riding on a Segway, and off you go. It could be great…Continue Reading