Alexus writes about her experience with Huntington’s disease. Alexus is all too familiar with the disease: her grandfather and mother have it, and she recently learned she does, too. Alexus graduated from MIT with a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering and minors in health policy and management. Currently, she’s working in life science consulting in the Boston area.
I’ve found that having a parent with Huntington’s disease makes you value every moment with them, even in unfortunate situations. For instance, normally I wouldn’t volunteer to go on a road trip from Massachusetts…
Growing up, my grandparents and I drove every summer from Florida to Pennsylvania to visit our extended family. I spent time with their siblings, nieces, and nephews who still lived in the…
Last weekend, my boyfriend and I finally exchanged our Christmas presents. This exchange consisted of us renting a car and driving over nine hours through a winter storm…
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that children get their first dose of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine between 12 and 15 months…
“It could be worse” is a sentiment I hear fairly often. It’s often said after I express sympathy for someone’s situation — such as when someone worked until 10 p.m. instead of…
Every family, regardless of religion or background, has at least one time of year that is special to them. A time when they get together and celebrate, repeating rituals that have been…
For this column, I interviewed my best friend about her thoughts on Huntington’s. Here are my questions and her answers: During your freshman year, you had a lecture on Huntington’s. Do you remember your…
Over this past holiday, my wonderful parents got me the Nintendo Switch and the new Pokemon game (specifically Shield, because it had cooler Pokemon). Yes, I am aware this…
At around 1 a.m. on Nov. 1, 2019, my aunt was pronounced dead. She had been waiting with her son in their car outside their house for a storm to abate when…
While traveling to a recent event on the T, greater Boston’s public transport system, I felt as if I were in a generic movie about a city-dwelling 20-something. I…
Some moments are so perfect that you wish time would stop so that some part of you could live in that moment forever. These moments can be significant milestones, such as receiving…
I was recently invited to talk about my column on Help 4 HD Live!, a weekly podcast for the Huntington’s disease community. The host, Lauren Holder, asked me how the…
In a previous column, I wrote about how I believe it is likely for a medical breakthrough to happen by the time I am old enough to have symptoms. I need…