Working Through the Process — Robin Stemple

Patient columnist Robin Stemple has many people who assist him, particularly his wife and daughter, and he is grateful for everyone who gives him help on a daily basis, often without him even having to ask.

I’ll admit that I was a support group cynic in my younger days. My attitude was that I’d figure things out on my own. I just couldn’t see the benefit of sitting around a…

When I moved to Pittsburgh in January to be closer to my children and grandchildren, we were aware that we’d have to make modifications to our new home. Finding an accessible home…

Getting surprise help when you have facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) isn’t considered newsworthy. But maybe it should be. These days, it seems that most, if not all, of the news on television and…

Back in the 1980s, as a high school special education teacher, I enjoyed giving my students an assignment at the start of the school year to see if they could follow directions. I told…

Those who read my columns regularly will know that my last one was written just after my wife, Wendy, and my daughter, Jill, took off for a vacation in Croatia, Greece, and Slovenia.

It’s been about an hour since the garage door closed and my wife, Wendy, and daughter, Jill, set off on what I hope will be an incredible adventure. They’re headed on a 15-day vacation…

Every day is different with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD). As I wrote in a previous column, managing the condition is a balancing act. If I do too much, I’ll pay for it…

I recently talked with a friend about body language and facial expressions. She’d attended a public hearing where she ended up sitting just behind the main speaker. As the hearing progressed, she became certain…

I was blessed to be able to provide music for the annual gathering of the United Church of Christ’s Penn West Conference earlier this month. Everything went well. My wife, Wendy, had plenty…

If you’ve been reading my column since I started writing for Muscular Dystrophy News Today, you know I recently moved to Pittsburgh from Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Over the past few years, as my…

Years of living with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) have taught me that it’s a balancing act on a high wire. It’s an everyday challenge to keep from falling off one way…