Interview with Jim Atwell, Author of “Wobbling Home: A Spiritual Walk with Parkinson’s”

Continuing our coverage of Parkinson’s Awareness Month, we’d like to introduce you to Jim Atwell, a PatientsLikeMe member who has been living with Parkinson’s disease (PD) since 2007. A retired college professor, late-in-life farmer and weekly columnist for his rural newspaper, Jim recently published his second book, Wobbling Home:  A Spiritual Walk with Parkinson’s.  This… Continue reading Interview with Jim Atwell, Author of “Wobbling Home: A Spiritual Walk with Parkinson’s”

Observing Parkinson’s Awareness Month

Since 2010, April has been designated as Parkinson’s Awareness Month by the US Senate.  The goal is to shine a spotlight on the national impact of Parkinson’s disease (PD), which affects more than one million Americans.  A progressive disorder of the nervous system, PD is often marked by muscle tremors, muscle rigidity, decreased mobility, stooped… Continue reading Observing Parkinson’s Awareness Month

Love Your Scars: An Interview with Transplant Recipient Amy Tippins

After five years of dealing with undiagnosed multiple hepatic adenomas (hemorrhaging tumors), PatientsLikeMe member Amy Tippins underwent a liver transplant in 1993.  Two years ago, she received a ligament allograft using donor tissue.  How does she feel about it all today?  Check out our interview with this transplant activist to learn how these experiences led… Continue reading Love Your Scars: An Interview with Transplant Recipient Amy Tippins

Today’s Photo: A Celebration of Solidarity

The weather is warming up, and calendars are filling up.  That means it’s time to starting thinking about spring walk/run events for your health condition! For inspiration, please meet multiple sclerosis patient NewLife (center), who led a PatientsLikeMeInMotion-sponsored team at Walk MS in St. Louis, Missouri.  Including a monetary donation from PatientsLikeMe, NewLife and her… Continue reading Today’s Photo: A Celebration of Solidarity

A Peek at the March Newsletter for Members

What kinds of things do we cover in our monthly newsletters for members? Take a look at the excerpt below from our March edition. Also, in case you didn’t know, anyone – whether a PatientsLikeMe member or not – can view our current and past newsletters in our Newsletter Archive. See what we’ve been up… Continue reading A Peek at the March Newsletter for Members

What Do You Know About Endometriosis?

March is Endometriosis Awareness Month, which means it’s a good time to brush up on this common women’s health problem.  For example, did you know that endometriosis gets its name from endometrium (en-doh-MEE-tree-um), the tissue that lines the uterus?  Or that this often painful condition occurs when that tissue begins to grow in other places,… Continue reading What Do You Know About Endometriosis?

Recognizing Multiple System Atrophy (MSA Parkinson)

In observing Rare Disease Day at the end of February, we talked how there are 7,000+ conditions that are categorized as rare diseases due to their lower prevalence (less than 200,000 people in the US).  Today we’d like to spotlight one of these lesser-known conditions:  multiple system atrophy (MSA), which affects 536 PatientsLikeMe members and… Continue reading Recognizing Multiple System Atrophy (MSA Parkinson)

Interview with Dr. Dee Kite, Author of “The Dumbest Things Smart People Say to Folks with MS” (Part II)

In Part I of our interview, we learned how Dee came to write The Dumbest Things Smart People Say to Folks with MS, how PatientsLikeMe’s MS Community was a critical part of her research and, most importantly, her “top three dumbest things” not to say. Today we find out more about Dee’s personal journey with… Continue reading Interview with Dr. Dee Kite, Author of “The Dumbest Things Smart People Say to Folks with MS” (Part II)

Interview with Dr. Dee Kite, Author of “The Dumbest Things Smart People Say to Folks with MS” (Part I)

Continuing our observance of MS Awareness Week, we’d like to introduce you to longtime PatientsLikeMe member Dr. Dee Kite (“CoachDee”), who has been living with multiple sclerosis (MS) for over 23 years. A life coach who specializes in MS patients, Dee became interested in social awareness, or how best to talk and interact with a… Continue reading Interview with Dr. Dee Kite, Author of “The Dumbest Things Smart People Say to Folks with MS” (Part I)

MS Awareness Week: Real-World Descriptions (and a Poem!) from Our MS Community

We kicked off MS Awareness Month by sharing some key facts we’ve learned from our MS community (26,000+ members and counting).  Now, we are digging a bit deeper in honor of MS Awareness Week.  You’ve already heard about common MS symptoms as well as frequent topics in our MS forum.  But what it is really like to… Continue reading MS Awareness Week: Real-World Descriptions (and a Poem!) from Our MS Community