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 friend who visited Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, for a serious health issue posted a video on social media of a string quartet playing in the towering glass atrium of the Gonda Building there. It brought back memories of when my husband, Todd, and I went to Mayo for…
“You should burn the beaver,” my husband, Todd, said. Over the last several years, since he has been paralyzed due to ALS, he has given me a lot of advice on various house projects, but that was not something I ever anticipated hearing. Last weekend, I was walking with…
Last weekend, my 13-year-old son, Isaac, and I spent about five hours replacing transition strips between my husband’s bedroom and the hallway, the master bathroom, and his office. When we built our accessible home over a decade ago, we put hard flooring throughout the house in anticipation that my…
I take pride in keeping a well-organized to-do list. Each day of the week has a set number of tasks, and each task is broken down into doable actions. It’s the “I’m under control and calm” approach. It’s perfect for someone like me who lives with ALS. But life’s…
I am certain that many in my generation are familiar with the following words: “Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens/ Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens.” For the youngsters, those are lyrics from “My Favorite Things,” from the Broadway musical “The Sound of Music.” The song…
There are currently up to 18,000 people living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in the U.S., with national costs likely to reach $1.02 billion each year, a study has found. Researchers also observed that men, white people, and veterans appear more likely to develop the disease. “However, large-scale, population-based…
On the ski trail the other afternoon, I was feeling discouraged. I hadn’t slept well the previous couple of nights and had a low-grade headache, but I willed myself to keep going. Exercise is good for my body, and being in nature usually soothes my mind. They’re two of…
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…
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