Columns

Being the mother and caregiver of three sons living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy brings a lot of stress. Much of it is everyday stress that I have learned to live with and don’t always notice — like knowing that three of my children have a fatal and incurable disease, and…

I often see posts in Facebook groups and other places asking about what holiday gift ideas people might have for sons with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Duchenne can affect different muscle groups, and patients can experience both muscle weakness and problems with muscle control in performing tasks and activities,…

It’s good to have you back to my column, “Hidden Truths.” I appreciate everyone who takes the time to read my reflections on life with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy. As I was considering what to write this week, I received a wonderful comment on a recent column from a…

Millions of people around the country have quit their jobs in search of more fulfilling work, better hours, and work-from-home options in what the media is calling the “Great Resignation.” Some of them, I’m sure, are realizing that they don’t need to work a full 40 hours to accomplish…

My husband, Jason, and my three sons with Duchenne muscular dystrophy — Max, Rowen, and Charlie — just pulled out of the driveway. They are headed to Denver for neuromuscular appointments that start this week. A couple of weeks ago, I shared in a column that I wouldn’t…

Learning when to say yes and when to say no has been especially important for me as I live with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). It’s a balance between trying to rise up in my career by accepting story assignments, and saying no to events, friends, and more assignments so that…

I didn’t think we would ever have more children after I found out 10 years ago that I was a carrier of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. But here I am in the homestretch again, in the last trimester of pregnancy. The weeks have been flying by, but my pregnancy…

Welcome back to my column, “Hidden Truths.” While I tend to write that at the beginning of most of my columns, I genuinely appreciate you checking in. You consciously decided to click on the column and made it a part of your day. You could have chosen thousands…

The title of this column comes from a meme I saw this week. Its message found me at a time when I needed to hear it. My three sons with Duchenne muscular dystrophy have appointments at Children’s Hospital Colorado the first week of December. (Yes, we must take three…

We form our identity from the world around us. That includes factors like our relationships with parents, siblings, and friends, what we look like, our sexual orientation, and our religious beliefs, among others. For me, one unspoken taboo is my disability. I use a wheelchair because I can barely walk,…