Living Well with ALS - a column by Dagmar Munn

When I learned I had ALS, my whole world changed, because on that day, I officially became an ALS patient. My husband’s world changed as well because, just as suddenly, he became my caregiver. I appreciate his taking on this challenging responsibility more than he’ll ever know.

Living with ALS presents many challenges, and staying mentally motivated is right at the top of the list. Being proactive to prevent our emotions from spiraling downward is easier than picking ourselves up after we’ve hit rock bottom. So, I want to share the five things I…

Have you heard the news? They’re banning plastic straws. Oh, darn! Just when I thought I had my ALS symptoms all figured out, perfect solutions in place, and solid daily routines to follow, a new curveball comes my way. The fact is I need straws! Not just any…

ALS life involves a lot of waiting. We wait for people to help us with daily tasks, we wait for medical test results, and we wait for new ALS symptoms. But it’s the constant thoughts of despair and hopelessness that put us in what I call the ALS…

Life with ALS often feels like a crash course in adaptability but being adaptable doesn’t come naturally for many of us. However, whether you’re the patient, caregiver, or a family member, I believe you can learn how. Read on and let’s get started. In my pre-ALS life…

If you are living with ALS, here’s a question for you: When was the last time you spent the time to learn something? It can’t include watching a TV newscast or scanning the news feed on your mobile device. I mean quality time spent with books or…

For those of us living with ALS, every day can have a stressful event. The key, I believe, is to move through the event and, if possible, remember it with humor. I recently came across a quote from the movie “Slow West” that reminds me that…

My ALS diagnosis was in 2010. In the months following, I tried to learn as much as possible about the condition and how it would affect my life going forward. I discovered that medical experts knew almost everything about the physical progression of ALS and what to expect…

Sometimes living with ALS makes me feel like I’m competing in the Olympics. I wake up in the morning and wonder how my body will perform that day. Then I lie awake at night rehashing all the things that went wrong. The voices in my head often sound…

If you’re like me and live with ongoing physical changes from ALS, you’ve probably used workarounds. What is a workaround? A workaround is a creative, temporary solution that solves an everyday problem. For example, in the real world, folks put red duct tape over a broken tail light…