Columns

Today, as I do most days, I woke up still tired. My sleep last night wasn’t great, but that’s not why I’m tired. I’m exhausted because I have Friedreich’s ataxia (FA). I tell myself I’m tired, and then the self-help book reader in me says, “Tell yourself you’re energized.”…

First in a series. On Sept. 6, 2025, my worst fear happened. It felt inevitable. I am 100% dependent on mobility aids due to poor balance and coordination with Friedreich’s ataxia (FA). Around the house, I use a rollator walker, but when I’m out and about, I…

During the final hours of the 2019 Friedreich’s Ataxia Symposium in Pennsylvania, the Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance announced that the pharmaceutical company Reata had achieved statistically significant positive results in its Phase 2 trial of omaveloxolone (also known as “omav” at the time and now sold under the brand…

Last week, I had my annual echocardiogram, known informally as an echo. My doctors want to keep an eye on my heart function because I have Friedreich’s ataxia (FA), and one of its more serious symptoms is cardiomyopathy. Monitoring my heart is crucial to detecting any changes early and…

As I heard the words come out of my mouth, I knew I sounded crazy. Yet there I was, pitching the idea to my husband: I wanted us to embark on a 16-hour journey to a place so remote that there’d be no running water or electricity. And we were…

I intended to publish a column in August that brimmed with hope and included a passage by my friend and fellow columnist Elizabeth Hamilton. We wrote about vatiquinone, which was up for approval with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It had the potential to become the…

If you’ve seen me fall or heard me talk about it, the first thing I usually say is “I’m OK.” I’ve even said that when I had a broken shoulder, when I clearly was not fine. Since no one could see my broken shoulder, I hid the pain. When I…

When I was 25 years old, on Aug. 19, 2013, my life forever changed. Together with my parents and husband, I got the answer we’d long sought about why my balance was progressively, noticeably, and inexplicably getting worse, despite being young, active, and otherwise healthy. A neurologist provided a…

Last Monday, my husband, Dave, and I were on the last leg of our journey home from vacation in the Shenandoah Valley. The GPS interrupted our Audible book and said, “Take exit 90 toward the Massachusetts Tournpike.” That’s not a typo — the GPS mispronounced turnpike. Hearing the mistake, we…

Traveling from my home in Canada is stressful, expensive, and exhausting. It pushes me outside my comfort zone, and it is, more often than not, an absolute gong show. Brittany Sommerfield counts a 2022 trip to Ireland among her travel experiences. (Courtesy of Brittany Sommerfield) It’s not easy with…

Mid-August is generally recognized as back-to-school time for those with school-age children or who work in education. Our television programs are flooded with commercials for the latest and greatest in children’s fashion trends and the new must-have school supplies; our inboxes are full of promotions and sales; and there’s a…

The other day I was listening to a podcast. (I think I’m addicted to podcasts.) The interviewee had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), though she preferred that it be called post-traumatic stress injury (PTSI) because she felt she was having a normal reaction to a horrendous trauma. During my years with…