The MS Wire

News, info and tips for living with multiple sclerosis

Posts

Affording Your #MS Medications…or Not

Have you been in this Catch-22? You had great medical insurance when you were working. But, you’re not working anymore. Your insurance now comes with a $6,000 deductible and it no longer covers any medications. That $6,000 is about a fifth of your yearly income. You took early retirement because of your MS, but the pension you’re getting puts you over the limit to receive Medicaid help. You can’t get Social…Continue Reading

Heavy-hitting #MS Drugs Step to the Plate

I’m sitting in Florida and the start of spring training is only about a month from now, so please forgive a baseball analogy: The heavy-hitters of the MS-fighting treatments, the monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), are moving up in the lineup. Five treatments currently are in the mAbs class: Ocrevus, Lemtrada, Rituxan, Tysabri, and Zinbryta. (Rituxan isn’t approved as an MS treatment in the United States. Nonetheless, it’s being prescribed off-label by some neurologists).…Continue Reading

Monkey See, Monkey Do: Helping Hands for People with MS

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

MS Marketing Study

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

Dancing in the Rain

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

She Has #MS and She Just Hiked 500 Miles!

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

Flu Shot or No Flu Shot for MS Patients?

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