Columns

I’m a logical person. I tend to look at the numbers and make a rational assessment of a situation. But I also want to be happily surprised rather than disappointed, so I expect the worst to be true. I describe it as being a realist…

My wife and I are fortunate to have health insurance, which pays for some of our medical bills, but not all of them. My eyes glaze over when I hear words like deductibles and copays. I don’t understand insurance, and I don’t really want to. Jill has always taken care…

I am amazed at the differences in the ways our brains work and the variations that exist in our thought processes. My roommate and I were discussing this subject, and she told me that she thinks in pictures. My thoughts, on the other hand, manifest as words.

I recently experienced two occasions of complete helplessness. The first involved my dog, Baby Girl. She has big ears, a normal characteristic of cocker spaniels, which often get infected. The combination of infection and a buildup of earwax sent Baby Girl and me to the veterinarian. Baby…

In my previous column, I talked about the day I received my diagnosis. I got through the following weeks by telling myself that nothing in my life had changed, and that I had no choice but to move forward. I knew time was not going to stop…

My husband and I were standing in a line of hundreds of people waiting to meet Michael J. Fox, one of the stars of the “Back to the Future” trilogy of movies. All around us were adults dressed up as their favorite comic and movie characters. We had…

Caregiving is an honorable position because it involves a lot of love. It also includes questions that begin with, “What if?” As you may know, my wife was diagnosed with Huntington’s disease last year. Right now, life is “good.” I put that word in quotation marks because her symptoms…

My wife and I don’t argue often. Here’s why: When we started dating, she shared with me her brilliant idea of a happy marriage. Jill asked me, “Do you want to be right or do you want to be happy?” I often choose happy. As my family knows, sometimes I…

I mentioned the day that I received the results of my genetic test in my first column. It was a Friday. I had been told to make plans for that day, because not knowing what you’re going to do can contribute to stress. However, I didn’t arrange…

Bear with me as I make an analogy. It’ll make sense in a moment. My wife, Jill, now sees genetic testing as the equivalent of a GPS. When you need to find out what illnesses run in your family, all you have to do is turn it on. Once…