Columns

“I’d give all of my degrees to write as powerfully as Melville,” Dr. Cicardo mused. She had read a passage from “Moby-Dick; or, The Whale“ aloud to her small college class. She reminded me of a proud songbird who recognizes the beauty…

I appreciate the consistent mindset this column helps me employ. With every new day, new challenge, or new opportunity, I quickly find myself coming up with new excuses as to why I can’t do something or why I shouldn’t try.

My 27th birthday is this week and I don’t know how to feel about it. I am definitely not one of those people who dislikes getting older — yet. Until I was diagnosed, I always looked forward to birthdays. Now they are markers of my disease’s progression. I thought time would…

Summertime is all about enjoying the outdoors with warm weather on your skin. The season is full of barbecues, family picnics, festivals, and more, with the people you enjoy most. Everyone needs to take precautions when in the heat. But the symptoms of Friedreich’s ataxia (FA), combined with the heat,…

My unease kept growing on the first day of this evening class during my third semester of college. The professor hadn’t shown up yet, so we were a small group of seven or so students sitting around a long table in a small classroom in Griffen Hall, the…

I am finding that change is so much easier when I tackle the changes I want to make with small, short-term goals in mind. I’ve heard that advice in the past and it’s always been a “feel-good” message. However, now I’m seeing its impact when I apply the…

Since receiving my diagnosis of Friedreich’s ataxia (FA) back in 2011, I have attended two series of physical therapy sessions. I was an outpatient at the local University of Pennsylvania hospital branch in 2014 and 2017. Initially, when I went in 2014, I wanted to familiarize myself with…

Finding a job when you are disabled is challenging. The search leads to frustration, and in my case, shame. I couldn’t find a position, even with decent grades from college and grad school. I sent out hundreds of résumés, attended dozens of job interviews, and moved…

Sometimes I wish that life would slow down, and some days, I convince myself that it will. That’s probably not true, though. I tend to take on projects and manage my calendar in seasons. This method implies that a “season” of less work and fewer projects, a period…

It was a beautiful, sunny day in Southern California, and I was out with my mom and my grandma. We usually get lunch in town and hang out for a while afterward. Shopping, running errands, or visiting someone at their house — whatever we do, I love our time together.

As I mentioned in my previous column, my husband, Justin, and I like to complete our weekly chore of grocery shopping early in the morning. The two main reasons we started doing this are that we get a handicapped parking spot right in front of the building and we…

An online friend recently commented that living with FA is a “Sisyphean dream.” I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that. At first glance, the idea seems futile, nihilistic, and ultimately negative. However, I didn’t take it that way. Through the…