A Family Tradition - a Column by Carlos Briceño

After my wife, Jill, started experiencing symptoms that led her to suspect she had inherited the faulty gene that causes Huntington’s disease (HD), she decided to find out for certain. When she told me she wanted to have her DNA tested for HD, my first question…

Last year, a chat about a Halloween decoration led to a conversation about Huntington’s disease (HD). It all began when my wife, Jill, picked up an item at the home of our daughter, Alexus, when we visited her in Boston. It was a long, hollow tube —…

My wife, Jill, recently discovered that what she’d thought was a symptom of her Huntington’s disease (HD) was really something else. It reminded us that just because she has a rare, terminal illness doesn’t mean it’s the cause of every medical issue. I began to realize this…

Talk therapy is great, but finding someone who understands you and meets your needs is the key to its success. When my wife, Jill, was diagnosed with Huntington’s disease (HD) in 2018, the doctor recommended that she see a therapist. While Jill had nothing against seeing someone for…

My wife, Jill, and I were recently talking about an encounter I had. As sometimes happens, a result of the conversation with Jill was a lesson that developed over the next few days about Jill’s terminal illness. The conversation centered on feeling belittled in my work as a…

I love stories. It’s why I have a passion for reading. I enjoy being transported to another world by the creative ways writers string words together. One of the many reasons I love my wife, Jill, is because she’s an incredible storyteller. She could make walking up the stairs…

I’ve learned a lot from my wife, Jill, who is gene-positive for Huntington’s disease (HD), about the importance of the phrase “I promise.” In the past, I often made promises without considering what they meant to others. As a child, I’d say, “I promise I’ll clean my room,”…

After 15 years of marriage, I was finally able to persuade my wife, Jill, to join me in exploring my love of reading. I hope that despite her Huntington’s disease diagnosis, she will never stop reading. I’m an avid reader. If you ask Jill, she’d say that’s an…

In the summer of 2022, my wife, Jill, and I attended an eye-opening event that made me understand exactly what Huntington’s disease (HD) does to a loved one. It was a family reunion hosted by Jill’s paternal relatives. Her father had HD, as do multiple people on his…

My wife, Jill, comes from a big family. She likes to joke that if she threw a dart at a map, someone from her family would live there. She loves to visit them, but lately, there’s been a cost for doing so. I always appreciate her family because…