Living Well with ALS - a column by Dagmar Munn

Decisions, decisions. When did making health decisions become so challenging for me? Well, it began after I was diagnosed with ALS. Scheduling annual health screens and medical treatments became complex decisions. Even purchasing a new pair of sneakers came with specific considerations. ALS has created a whole…

For a while now, I’ve been keeping tabs on the new technologies of virtual assistants, voice activation, and artificial intelligence (AI), especially its potential benefits for the ALS community. Some of it I’ve tried, with iffy results. Others, like AI, are on my wish list to help erase ALS…

I’ll admit I often worry if I’m being productive with my time and spending it wisely. That’s always been important to me, but it intensified the day I was told I had ALS. That’s when I heard the words “average life expectancy of two to five years” and left…

Six years ago, I was a new patient columnist for ALS News Today and wrote a column about how planning ahead helps me dine out with ease. But since that time, my ALS has evolved — and so have my plans. Instead of a rollator, I now…

Sometimes living with my ALS isn’t a matter of finding the right balance of effort and ease. At times, I have zero mental motivation to make the effort in the first place! And from the comments I read on many social media sites, other ALS patients have…

The other day, right in the middle of doing my daily chair exercises, I had to stop and turn down the volume of my mind’s inner critic. Because I was feeling a little sluggish and off balance, the voice in my head was absolutely convinced that my ALS symptoms…

Last month, a series of health issues bombarded me. They flew in on top of my usual ALS symptoms, causing me to become frustrated and ask, “Has this become my new normal?” But the advice I once received from a TV game show host rescued me — advice that…

Every once in a while, I step onto my soapbox (mine has special safety rails) to voice my view about an important issue in the ALS community. This time, I’m here with praise for “ALS and Mental Health,” an article recently published in ALS News Today. In my…

Every once in a while, I have to stop and declare, “I’m spinning way too many plates!” That happens whenever I begin to feel overwhelmed by the number of tasks I’ve set myself up to do while living with ALS. You’ve seen plate spinning, right? It was…

A few months after I learned I had ALS, I was invited to participate in a walkathon to help raise funds for the ALS Association. I’m sure my curt reply of “No, thank you” came as a shock to the person inviting me. At the time, I had…