The Beginner's Guide to Walking - a Column by Jennifer V.

Let’s Talk About Sex, Intimacy, and Rare Disease

“Let’s talk about sex, baby/ Let’s talk about you and me/ Let’s talk about all the good things/ And the bad things that may be/ Let’s talk about sex.” — Salt-N-Pepa My friends and I used to giggle every time this song came on the radio in the early 1990s.

How Air Travel Can Affect NMO Patients

At one point in my life, I thought I wanted to be a flight attendant. As a first-generation Canadian, my parents, who immigrated here in 1968, told me stories of foreign countries and the people, the unique food, and the different languages. For most of my childhood, I grew up…

The Ongoing Process of Grief

It rained the day before and after, but on the day we buried Dad, the overcast weather parted for a picturesque blue sky, complete with rolling white clouds. For mid-April, it could’ve been a cold, miserable day, matching our mood. Instead, the sun warmed us, so we didn’t need…

Why Lifting COVID-19 Restrictions Has Me Worried

I have a theory: I’m convinced you can scream (almost) anything at a baseball game. The more obscure the cheer, the greater it is. “You call that peanut butter?!” “Turn ’em upside down!” “Let’s go, captain! Take ’em out to sea!” (This one is way more fun when said in…

Food for the Soul and the Body

When I walk through the doors of Satay Sate, a local Indonesian restaurant, the aromas that hit me instantly remind me of my childhood. I first ventured there after my dad died, and I was brought to tears at my first bite. It was like they had stolen Dad’s recipes.

Movement in the Recovery From Transverse Myelitis

“Can you walk down the hall for me, please?” My specialist, with a stern look on her face, waits patiently. “And back again toward me now.” It feels so ridiculous that, as a 40-year-old woman, I’m being asked to do this. I steady myself and walk down the hallway. I…