When Dagmar was diagnosed with ALS at the age of 59 in 2010, she tapped into her nearly 30 years of professional experience. She not only follows her own wellness and fitness advice but also inspires and teaches others to do the same. Dagmar is a patient columnist at BioNews, writing “Living Well with ALS.” In addition, she is one of the moderators for the ALS News Today Forum and writes a personal blog called “ALS and Wellness.” She lives in Arizona, enjoying finding humor in life's situations, and spends her free time pursuing creative projects in fiber arts.ALS has taught me many life lessons, and a very important one is to never give up. For example, some days I get up, get going, and suddenly notice that one of my body parts isn’t moving as well as the day before. It’s a small, quirky thing, like…
In a recent column, I described how I panicked following my ALS diagnosis. With the prognosis of having only two to three years to live, suddenly there weren’t enough hours in the day to do what I wanted to do. My mind hyperventilated with seemingly endless thought…
I enjoy reading motivational blogs written by people from all walks of life outside the ALS community. What they write not only inspires me, but also gives me lots of new ideas. However, one recent blog post had me fuming. The author described how she was transforming her life…
Is anyone else feeling winter-bluesy-cabin-feverish? I know I am. I’ve been feeling that way for the past couple days. It always happens to me at this time of year, and because I live with ALS, it’s especially challenging. I blame my off-kilter mood on February, with its dark mornings…
Growing up, I always associated the month of February with Valentine’s Day, a holiday filled with hearts and flowers. But now that I live with ALS, the holiday is nowhere near as important to me as Rare Disease Day on Feb. 28. ALS is among the many…
Even though I continue to practice daily voice skills to help me prepare for in-person conversations, I’m still challenged by the pronunciation of certain words. Often, I avoid the word altogether and use a simpler version. Or I simply plow ahead, slurring and bumbling my way and relying on lots…
I always love having a good “aha!” moment, especially when it helps improve how I manage my ALS symptoms. Better yet is when I learn that what I thought was a symptom of ALS was actually an impostor, the result of something called “learned nonuse.” Here’s what happened.
During the years I taught yoga, I always enjoyed explaining the concept of effort and ease. It’s the feeling of holding a yoga pose with the right amount of force. Not too much, not too little — just right. Little did I know how, years later, an expanded version of…
I’m always open to learning new things, especially when they involve simple ways to improve my life with ALS. When I come across something super helpful, I just have to share it with my readers. My most recent discovery involves a simple plastic straw. In fact, it’s become a…
During my first year living with ALS, I spent a lot of time researching and learning whatever I could about the disease. I came across long lists of medical equipment that patients like me could expect to use when ALS symptoms progressed. Books written by medical experts with…
