exercise

A couple of years ago, I took on boxing as a form of exercise. I’d never step into the ring, but I loved working on proper form, building strength, and seeing how much conditioning I could handle. I was proud of the progress I made. Then, as often happens with…

One of my greatest frustrations of living with a rare disease is how it affects my ability to exercise. Before neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), I enjoyed being an athlete and a dancer. When I graduated from high school, I weighed 94 pounds, and I maintained my small…

I’ve been so exhausted before that I’ve said, “No one will know if I leave the kitchen looking like this.” Dirty dishes will be piled up in the sink, while clean dishes are still in the dishwasher. A sticky substance might appear on the counter, but thankfully the black marble…

The daily grind of ingesting pills for my neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder can be very disheartening. There is medication for my nerve pain, to combat the fatigue, to manage the overall pain, to help me sleep. There are even pills to offset the heartburn that happens because of all the…