There is nothing sexy or headline-making about chronic illness. It rarely kills a person — but it sure can curtail a life. Ted Kennedy was presented with what seemed liked larger than life issues that forced him to make quick decisions and take risks. All the more inspiring. And Kennedy, as […]

This past weekend, my husband’s family gathered at our house for his youngest brother’s (there are 4 “boys”) graduation (at 44!) from U Mass Medical School (Worcester, MA).
A big deal, no? But it’s late Spring and as is typical for me, multiple sclerosis (MS) symptoms are flaring, with some pain and some fatigue.  […]

I hate these words: “he lost the fight with cancer” or “she’s so brave in the face of her illness - what a heroine.” Hate is a pretty strong word — but then I’ve been living with chronic illness for 30 years and some feelings have been building inside.
I’m thinking of the recent press […]

Thank you to Amy Tenderich over at DiabetesMine.com for writing an eloquent review of the new book that I co authored with Joan Friedlander, Women, Work and Autoimmune Disease: Keep Working, Girlfriend!
Her first line sums up SO much. She writes: “If ever two things were once considered mutually exclusive, they […]

Joan Friedlander and I were interviewed on Disability News Radio (you have to scroll down under the May schedule to find the link to the interview) about our book, Women Work and Autoimmune Disease: Keep Working, Girlfriend!
You can click here to read more about our experience being interviewed …
I’ve been affiliated with an amazing […]

How do you know when it’s time to tell your boss about your chronic illness?
I got this question in my email today (I added the bold):
“At what point, if ever, do I need to tell my employer I have a chronic illness? In the past, I’ve always gone with the philosophy of not mentioning […]

If I had a dime for every time someone said to me,”I’d like to be self employed”, I’d be rich (well maybe my pockets would jingle). You don’t have to have a chronic illness to dream about self employment. But I can tell you from personal experience, it […]

How hard is it for you to regulate your own environment? How well do manage your resources? Forget it - you can’t look to the United States government or most of the developing countries of the world for a role model - they stink at it. Why?
My theory is because it’s just […]

If Andy Warhol was right, I’ve used up my 15 minutes of fame.
That’s how long it took for me to read this article “Working While Chronically Ill” , forward it to my family and take a breath to revel in the press!   It’s in the “Shifting Careers” column of the […]

Several emails asked me to post a picture from my trip to Argentina. This was Iguazu Falls. Impressed that a sign indicated wheelchair accessibility — but disappointed no rating for “people with bad balance that gets worse in intense heat!” But we know that chronic illness symptoms […]