Jean Walsh hails from Massachusetts. You will find a mental health perspective in her writing, reflecting her two mental health graduate degrees. She has years of work experience, the most pertinent being her experience as a grant writer. Jean was diagnosed with Friedreich’s ataxia (FA) when she was 19, and has been an avid FA volunteer since. She is 40 years into her journey with FA and so has a lot of experience to share with her shared FA, rare, and chronic disease communities.
Last Monday morning, I sat up in bed to take my thyroid pill. But I accidentally dumped the pills into the covers. I managed to scoop most of them back into the bottle and…
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Almost every morning I wake up intending to eat well. Sometimes I do eat healthily, sometimes not. This sunny May morning I plan to make myself a berry smoothie with lots of healthy stuff…
I was struggling to transfer unassisted from the couch into my wheelchair when I slowly fell on the floor. I worried that my osteoporosis-weakened bones had broken, even though I wasn’t in pain.
“He was in a jam/ He’s in a giant clam!/ Rock, rock, rock lobster!/ Down, down …” The B-52s were blaring from the megaspeakers at the crammed party. I was doing…
It was 6 a.m. I was still in bed when my van alarm started going off. Such alarms make me tense, particularly first thing in the morning. My husband, Dave, was up and ran…
My mind was whirring at what felt like 1,000 miles an hour. I had a paper due, a doctor visit out of state to plan, a dog to take to the vet, and more.
My dad — a vital yet balding older man with a gray beard and merry blue eyes — pedaled alongside me. We were participating in a rideATAXIA event, one of the main fundraisers…
I recently complained to my husband, Dave, that taking care of my health is all I ever do. It isn’t, but that’s how I felt at that moment. Dave replied with some version of…
The disease I have, Friedreich’s ataxia (FA), causes loss of mobility among other things, which prompted me to get a sweet service dog named Wendy. Last December, I took Wendy to the…
The other day I decided to try watercolor painting again. That may sound like an extremely frustrating activity for someone who signs their name like a 5-year-old. No offense to 5-year-olds. Poor motor skills…
A while ago, a friend of mine with Friedreich’s ataxia (FA), a disease I also have, told me that she only plans one activity a day. That sounded like sage advice, but it…
I recently returned from a fun vacation with my husband, Dave, and two friends at the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas. We saw a lot, ate a lot, and laughed a lot. At this…
Imagine standing on top of Mount Everest screaming “Help!,” but the wind is so fierce that your words blow back and no one hears you. Could people do anything if they did? That’s what…
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