Working Through the Process — Robin Stemple

I’ve been disabled for over 50 years, and I spent over 30 years working with people with disabilities. The language surrounding disability has evolved in that time. For the most part, that’s a good thing. As an example, person-first language has become more common. It’s more appropriate to introduce someone…

I’ve had a walker with wheels for a decade. I got it after back surgery in 2014 and used it for a month or so. As a blind person with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD), I found it much more difficult to maintain my orientation without direct touch. I was…

My wife, Wendy, and I recently enjoyed a beach vacation in North Carolina with our family. That included our three children, Nicole, Jill, and Ryan, as well as their partners and our three grandkids, Iva, Julia, and Theo. Hurricane Debby moved out the day we moved in, and Tropical Storm…

Kevin Schaefer, the associate director of community content at Bionews, the parent company of this website, recently shared a thought-provoking article from Psychology Today titled “How Chronic Illness and Masculinity Intersect.” It has me thinking about what kind of man I am and want to be. The…

A few years ago, my wife, Wendy, and I took a mini-vacation to Philadelphia with my brother Ron, his wife, Judy, my brother Tim, and his wife, Diane. Ron, Tim, and I had visited relatives there on a regular basis growing up, so we cruised around the old neighborhoods where…

As I was finishing up a recent interview with the host of “FSHD Radio: Straight Talk with Tim Hollenback,” a service of the FSHD Society, Tim’s final question was, “If there’s one thing you’d like people to know about facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy [FSHD], what would it be?”…

Last week, my wife, Wendy, and I finally got around to starting the process of purchasing a new mattress. We realized when we moved to Pittsburgh in January 2023 that we needed to replace our mattress, which has served us well for many more years than the sleep experts…

Over the past couple months, I’ve shared my decision to try physical therapy in an attempt to slow the progression of my facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD). I also shared that I haven’t seen a lot of benefit from the physical therapy, at least in terms of regaining…

In a column I wrote last month, I talked about finally deciding to try some physical therapy, despite more than a little pessimism that it would be effective. Actually, I’ve been struggling with this decision for over a year. I finally followed through and completed a five-week…

Regular readers of my column will know that my wife, Wendy, and I moved from Shanksville, Pennsylvania, to Pittsburgh in January 2023 to be closer to our children and grandchildren. There have been some issues, but the move has worked out well. We see a lot more…

In my last column, I wrote about the increasing difficulties I’m having safely navigating my home using the “furniture surfing” technique. I wondered whether it was time that I break out the walker and give it another try. I also mentioned my plans to contact my doctor to discuss…

I had an incident about a month ago that I’ve been thinking about ever since. It’s left me wondering if it’s time for me to begin using a walker, something I tried years ago without much success. The Sunday after my wife, Wendy, had surgery recently, a friend…