Spring — the kickoff for a multitude of ALS awareness events — is just around the corner! Many are already gearing up, and this is my signal to dial up my mental resilience. It helps me support their messages while keeping a firm hold on my sense of me.
Living Well with ALS - a column by Dagmar Munn
Oh, how I wish living with ALS weren’t so murky: We don’t know its cause, we don’t have a cure, and we measure symptom progression by way of 12 questions. I can’t do anything about the cause or cure, but I’m up on my soapbox (the one with the…
Columns
Living Well On the Rare Side
The other day, I was chatting with a friend about Rare Disease Day. Wait, what? You don’t know about Rare Disease Day? Well, don’t feel bad. Last year I missed it, thinking it was just another ho-hum awareness event. But I’ve learned the value of events such as this…
Columns
Hooray! You Can Hear Me Now!
Sometimes you get lucky and life gives you a break, which is not always the norm for someone living with ALS. The past two weeks have been rather fun for me, thanks to a suggestion that I begin using a portable microphone. I have written about my challenges…
Columns
Listen! Can You Hear Me Now?
Living with ALS has taught me to adapt, adapt, and adapt. Because ALS symptoms tend to change, change, and change. And one of the symptoms I’ve been learning to adapt to is dysarthria, or losing the ability to speak. Dysarthria feels like having a bad case of laryngitis and…
Whenever I’m out and about running errands, I’m aware of the possibility I’ll need to make a quick stop at, ahem, the public restroom. But though I have ALS and rely on a mobility scooter, it has never been a problem. That’s because I have a mental list of handicapped-accessible…
The new year arrived bearing good and bad news. The good news is that 2020 marks my 10th year of living with ALS and I’m still here! The bad news is that I still have ALS. And, gosh darn, I thought we’d have a cure by now. But we…
Last year, while serving as a moderator for the ALS News Today Forums, I added more than 355 people to my circle of ALS friends. And in the short time since the launch of the forums, it has become a trusted space where members can ask questions, share…
Whether I’m at a social gathering or in the middle of a lighthearted chat in the grocery store, there’s no doubt about it — people can say the darndest things! This is particularly true when they’re stymied over what to say to me about my ALS. Don’t get me wrong.
Columns
Sharing My ALS Clinic Chuckles
Recently, I had one of those happy-sad moments. It was brought on simply because next week’s ALS clinic visit was rescheduled for January. I was like a kid waking up to snow and no school. Yippee, a free day! And yet a bit sad, because I’d have to wait…
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