You know you’re in trouble when your orthopedist uses words like “sclerosis.” After several excruciating months of pain, I was exactly where I needed to be: Gillette Lifetime Specialty Healthcare in St. Paul,…
Every March, I connect with a county worker to reassess my waiver, which is a federally financed Medicaid budget covering home- and community-based programs. The questions are always the same: How has my health been…
Note: This column describes the author’s experiences with Cymbalta (duloxetine), Prozac (fluoxetine), and Celebrex (celecoxib). Not everyone will have the same response to treatment. Consult your doctor before starting or stopping a therapy. After months…
When it comes to sleep studies, I mainly remember orange juice. Don’t ask me why. I was young then, around 8 or 9, so I have to assume the technicians were trying to bribe me or something. My…
Note: This column describes the author’s own experiences with Cymbalta (duloxetine). Not everyone will have the same response to treatment. Consult your doctor before starting or stopping a therapy. Every morning, my caregivers present me with…
On a perfectly mundane February afternoon, my mom and I drove to downtown St. Paul, Minnesota. It’s a new ritual now that I’ve transitioned most of my care to Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare. Every six…
I knew things would change when my mom retired. For one thing, there was going to be a whole third person hanging around our house; for most of my life, it was just my dad and…
Every December, I write an end-of-the-year column. I try to make it inspiring, or at the very least optimistic, but sometimes I can’t even accomplish that. Last year’s wrap-up was essentially a long-winded way of me saying, “See you never,…
When I returned from the annual Cure SMA conference this summer, I knew something needed to change. I made a list of everything I’d been putting off, like finding a new therapist and setting up the photo…
You know that poem by Anne Boyer I love about holes? You fall into one, only to dig yourself out over weeks or months or years, only to fall into yet another hole, this one both different and familiar. Life, then, becomes a series of holes, some small…
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