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.
Looking forward to getting a flu shot is something I never thought possible. But at this point in what has been a very strange year, it’s a darned good excuse to get out and do something. In past years, I followed health guidelines and always waited until early October…
Recently, I noticed I was having problems keeping track of time. Not clock time, as in being a little early or showing up too late. But calendar time — the past weeks and months of living in lockdown have caused my days to morph together. I knew I was doing…
What a long, crazy summer it’s been, as we’re living with minimal social interaction and long periods of isolation. Parts of our lives have changed without our consent, and we have to be on the lookout for developing symptoms. And those are just the challenges of living with ALS…
Racing thoughts, runaway thoughts. Whatever you call ’em, I caught ’em. Yup, a case of full-blown, out-of-control, runaway thoughts. I hadn’t had them for years — not since the day I was told I had ALS. And then, like most newly diagnosed patients, I spent weeks and months imagining the…
Last week, I had the pleasure of joining the Fox Valley/Lakeshore ALS Virtual Support Group in Wisconsin as their guest speaker. We had fun discussing ways to reduce stress during the ongoing crisis while we live with our ALS. During my presentation, I shared one strategy…
During these past few months, like most folks I know, I’ve been watching movies — lots of movies. And by now, my wish list of titles is pretty well picked over. So, whenever a new release comes out, I jump on it, thinking “OK, Netflix, surprise me!” Well, I got…
Oh my! We’re still facing challenges brought on by the pandemic and most likely will continue doing so for some time. Right now I’m feeling the loss of being able to sit down with friends to chat and catch up on the little things in our lives. My many ALS…
Recently, my husband and I experienced a staycation of sorts — we dined on two weeks of gourmet meals without leaving our home. Although it gave my husband-caregiver a much-needed break from meal preparations and was a nice change of pace for both of us, we wouldn’t do it again.
Last week, I joined about 20 other ALS patients in attending an online meeting on Zoom. While the speaker scrolled through her slide program, I thought, “Wow, no parking lots! We’re all here and no one had to deal with a parking lot!” Maybe I should explain my negative association…
This week, I’m celebrating my third anniversary of writing columns for ALS News Today. This special column expresses my gratitude for having the unique opportunity to share my thoughts and wellness knowledge with the ALS community. It is a thank-you to loyal readers for their support, comments, and friendship.
