multiple Sclerosis

In 1996, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a neurological disease of the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord). It is a chronic disease (always there, no breaks) that is progressive (it gets worse with time) and disabling (I began with a slight limp and now use a wheelchair). At twenty-one years of age, it's old enough to drink. Personally, I don't imbibe any alcohol, but it's welcome to drink itself to death

I "celebrated" my twenty-first anniversary with ms by getting a new motorized wheelchair. This thing can recline until my feet are elevated above my heart; I can raise the seat 8" to reach items in higher shelves at the store; it can cruise along at a blinding 7.6 mph, which is fast enough that Kobe has to run to keep up with me; it comes with a cell phone charger; it has blue tooth, headlights, taillights, turn signals, and four-way flashers. The only things missing are a blue ray player and a wet bar.

We capitalize names as a sign of respect (God, United States of America, etc.), an honor I refuse to bestow on ms. I prefer to call it, "the bastard."

In my PMS days (prior to ms), I exercised my creativity by designing and building furniture. I made most of the cabinets, tables and shelves in my home. As the disability progressed, however, I was no longer able to do that work. One of the physiological effects of ms is the destruction of brain cells. Fortunately, the cells I've lost are the ones I wasn't using anyway, and I channeled my imagination and creativity into writing.

Other Works

PN Magazine, a publication of the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA), has printed nineteen articles I have written regarding life with ms. They are:

December2001: Multiple Sclerosis: An Owner's Manual

July 2002: The View From Belt Buckle Height

February 2003:  The Whole Enchilada

November 2003:  Changing Your Oil Naturally

August 2005:   Grabbing the Wheel

December 2006:  Cranberries for the Soul

December 2007:  Two Left Feet

August 2008:  In My Right Mind

July 2009:  Living in a Friendly Universe

October 2010:  When Your Instincts Speak

July 2012:  And the Hits Just Keep On Comin'

October 2013: Good Grief!

December 2014: Because I Can!

November 2015:  Thanks, I Needed That

November 2016:  Improvise, Adapt, Overcome

November 2017: That's How We Roll

November 2018: Dependent Independence

March 2020: They Call Me Lazarus

April 2024  Thank You For Your Service

I was an inpatient at the James A. Haley VA Medical Center in Tampa, FL for six weeks between July and early October 2019 and it was quite an adventure. A week before I was discharged, the doctor and the medical staff became convinced that I was dying and had me transferred to the hospice. There were no medication orders except morphine for pain and Ativan for anxiety. There were no orders for food, either. In time, I would have starved to death were it not for Claudia who brought food for me. Everyone was shocked to see me still alive on my return to the SCI unit on Monday and some began calling me, "Lazarus." I wrote an article for PN chronicling the experience entitled, "They Call Me Lazarus," which appears in the March 2020 issue. This is the eighteenth article PN will have published for me.

The photo below was taken behind the Tampa VA hospital's nursing home, where Kobe and I spend most of our volunteer time. We have volunteered almost every week for four hours per day since June 2014, and have given over 500 volunteer hours to the patients and Community Living Center residents at the VA hospital.