Posts by: John Connor

John Connor

July 8, 2022July 8, 2022

Living With MS: ‘That Was the Week That Was’ Truly Awful

Monday Unlike Prince, my Monday wasn’t manic. It was barreling along quite sedately until my wife, Jane, casually noted, “Remember, you’ve got a dental appointment on Wednesday morning.” Er, no, ... Read more

June 24, 2022June 24, 2022

Fall Down, Can’t Get Up Again

Multiple Sclerosis News Today Columns

So I’m at my multiple sclerosis (MS) exercise class working out on a sit-down bike. Yes, I know, by their very nature bikes tend to be of the sit-down variety, ... Read more

June 17, 2022June 17, 2022

Five Years of Writing This Column. What a Surprise

Multiple Sclerosis News Today Columns

Compared with living with multiple sclerosis (MS), the anxiety of what on water (Earth has always struck me as a misnomer as water comprises 71% of our planet’s surface) I’m ... Read more

June 10, 2022June 10, 2022

My Right Arm Is Going to Look Really Young

Multiple Sclerosis News Today Columns

I’ve just received four intramuscular Botox injections in my right arm to relieve the muscle spasticity that comes with multiple sclerosis. (OK, it wasn’t actually Botox, but Dysport, or abobotulinumtoxinA, ... Read more

June 3, 2022June 3, 2022

Romance Means We Took the Weekend Off MS, Nearly

Multiple Sclerosis News Today Columns

There is a more heavyweight subject I could inflict on you lot, but let’s put our feet up this week. Even I can do it with the one leg. My ... Read more

May 27, 2022May 27, 2022

How I Get Through My Days — More Importantly, Please Tell Me How You Get Through Yours

Multiple Sclerosis News Today Columns

Today’s youth have to accumulate a range of skills. Everything changes so fast. Parents often have no idea what career their kids even want to follow. Do you know what ... Read more

May 20, 2022May 20, 2022

Get Stirring — You Never Know What Kind of Soup You’ll Make

Multiple Sclerosis News Today Columns

In my cooking days, I always had a stock simmering away. Nothing was wasted. What had been frugality spurred on by self-imposed poverty — first as a student, then in ... Read more

May 13, 2022May 13, 2022

No Crisis, No Column? OK, Fine: Everything Takes So Long With MS

Multiple Sclerosis News Today Columns

This week’s been a relief. I haven’t had to dash to casualty or fallen over in my chair. Nor have I stirred up a ruckus with the health powers that ... Read more

May 6, 2022May 6, 2022

A Conundrum of Low Blood Sodium Causes My Latest Health Scare

Multiple Sclerosis News Today Columns

“Well, this an idea for your next column, John,” my wife, Jane, said, a tad sardonically. At least I thought it was probably sardonic, as there was just a wisp ... Read more

April 29, 2022April 29, 2022

The MSer Who Lay in Bed for 2 Years and Can Now Walk Again

Multiple Sclerosis News Today Columns

My column’s handle is “Fall Down, Get Up Again” because the first piece I wrote for Multiple Sclerosis News Today was titled “A Mountain to Climb with MS — in ... Read more

April 22, 2022April 22, 2022

The Tricks of Intermittent Catheterization When You’re in a Wheelchair

Multiple Sclerosis News Today Columns

For the few of you lot lucky enough not to know about intermittent catheterization, it’s shoving a thin bit of plastic up the old (in my case) urethra so that ... Read more

April 15, 2022April 15, 2022

A Winning Belt Turns Into WrestleMania

Multiple Sclerosis News Today Columns

It was a moment of clarity. Unfortunately, my attempt at making a bright, clear consommé has for the moment turned into a muddled chowder! Even worse, it was writing this ... Read more

April 8, 2022April 8, 2022

‘Top Gear’: Unfortunately, I’m a Backward-leaning Jeremy Clarkson

Multiple Sclerosis News Today Columns

Before anyone in the U.S. asks who this Jeremy Clarkson fella is, know that petrol heads in your country know exactly who he is. Indeed, the Brit motoring show “Top ... Read more

April 1, 2022April 1, 2022

Old Friends, Broken Chairs, UTI Admissions, and Redemption

COVID-19 Columns, Multiple Sclerosis News Today Columns

The week started with a bang, albeit with a hint of underlying anxiety. Friends and former work colleagues gathered during the first days of spring to chat in my sun-lathered ... Read more

March 25, 2022March 25, 2022

The Heel That Won’t Heal

Multiple Sclerosis News Today Columns

The dull throbbing always hits a crescendo “in the wee small hours,” as Mr. Sinatra — or rather his songwriters — so aptly put it. I’m referring to a wound ... Read more