MS Maze

When it comes to MS in the workplace, how well do you understand your legal rights?

Visit The Health Central Network’s Multiple Sclerosis Central to take the quiz and test your knowledge.

Note: The Americans with Disability Act covers employers with 15 or more employees. For further information, visit the ADA hopepage: www.ada.gov

We just received an update on a previous post, MS: Misunderstood Around the Globe. Tae Kwon Do silver medallist Kirsten McLaughlin sent this message:

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Kirsten McLaughlin Says:
September 7th, 2008 at 7:24 pm e

Hi there, I’m Kirsten McLaughlin and I just want to let you know that the decision has been overturned, im have now been awarded higher rate care and mobility components. Also thank you for your support by putting my story on your site.

Best Regards
Kirsten McLaughlin

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It’s a pleasure to share good news once in awhile! Thank you, Kirsten. Our thoughts are with you.

The state of Virginia has created a very useful website for elderly and disabled residents.

Providing information on emergency preparedness, financial help, housing, transportation, and understanding your rights, Virginia Easy Access puts community resources right at your fingertips!

Visit Virginia Easy Access

Widgets… Widgets… We’ve Got Widgets…

Mandy on Multiple Sclerosis Central

Jake on Multiple Sclerosis Central

MS Maze

Conversations Over Dinner

Visit Widgetbox

Life Interrupted: It’s Not All About Me
by Chris M. Tatevosian

“Life Interrupted: It’s Not all about Me, is a candid and humble memoir about one young man’s diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis and how his ‘poor-me’ attitude cost him his marriage. Chris hopes others might learn from his mistakes to communicate more effectively and not allow disability and low self-worth to destroy relationships. Chris also writes about his faith in God, and his new wife, Jane, who he married in April of 2007.”

More Information Here

We’ve got widgets!

Get Mandy’s Widget

Get Jake’s Widget

Visit Widgetbox

This post comes to you courtesy of Lisa Emrich, of Brass and Ivory, in an effort to help MS Bloggers become a stronger community. Thanks, Lisa!

There are at least 137 MS Bloggers out there actively discussing whatever suits their fancy. Below you will find many of these suspects….wait… I mean lovely blogger friends who happen to have multiple sclerosis.

Remember how I mentioned a group project was in the works? Well here it is. As the founder of the Carnival of MS Bloggers, I’d like your help in spreading the word, and in doing so we will strengthen the bonds of our own little Multiple Sclerosis Blogging Web (and share some linkie love with each other). If you are not an MS Blogger, but are a regular reader here, please feel free to help spread the word too.
Here’s what you do:

1. Copy the entirety of this post
2. Create a new post and paste this content
3. Visit 3 of the blogs listed below which you were unfamiliar
4. Leave a comment on their blog encouraging them to participate
5. Please add Brass and Ivory to your sidebar, if it’s not already

New editions of the Carnival of MS Bloggers will be presented bi-weekly at Brass and Ivory. Previous editions will be are archived here and the button below has been revised to include the new link. Please update your sidebar.

Names of the Blogs - Name of Blogger (if known)

and # of posts in 2008 (as of 3/5)

9 Brand New MS Bloggers joined the blogosphere in 2008!!

New! Carole’s MS Blog (Carole) 49
New! Great Mastications (Orla) 37
New! Movin’ On with MS (Sammie) 26
New! Me, Myself and MS (Emma) 10
New! Being Ammey 8
New! Blogbuster (Daniel) 6
New! Etsy Crest (Shelby) 6
New! Serina’s Blog 5
New! I’m Beating MS (Michael) 2

Most Prolific MS Blogger - so far in 2008!!

Jim’s Deep Thoughts (Jim) 231

Top 10 Rather Prolific MS Bloggers - so far in 2008!!

A Stellarlife (Diane) 109
Multiple Synchronicities & Sclerosis (Merelyme) 90
Friday’s Child 70
My Journey - Living Well with MS (Diana) 69
Sunshine and Moonlight (Kim) 65
The MonSter Ate My Branes! (Natalie) 65
Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia 60
Brass and Ivory (Lisa) 56
Brain Cheese (Linda) 52
Maybe I’m Just Lazy (Julie) 51

28 Moderately Prolific MS Bloggers - so far in 2008!!

Maggsbunny (Maggie) 48
Living with Multiple Sclerosis (TC) 47
MS My Way 43
Bugs, Bikes, Brains (Shauna) 39
Dancing with MS (Lazscott) 37
Trying to Catch My Breath 37
A Florida Journal (SwampAngel) 35
Now We Are Six (Tish) 33
Reality Check (Michael) 32
Access Denied (Herrad) 31
Multiple Sclerosis Blog (Charles of MSBpodcast.com) 30
MS Activist (NMSS) 29
Self-injecting Chinese Hamsters since 2007 27
Shirl’s the Girl (Shirley) 27
Disabled Not Dead (Anne) 26
Life with MS (Trevis) 26
Living with MS (Blinders Off) 25
White Lightning Axiom - Redux (mdm) 25
Stevers! 23
Word Salads (Have Myelin?) 23
Danieldoo (Vivian) 22
Caregivingly Yours (Patrick) 20
Deo Volente (Lisa N) 20
Down the MS Path (Vicki) 19
Do You Have That in My Size? (Denise) 17
Jenn’s Nook (Jenn) 17
Fingolimod and Me (Jeri) 16
Human Life Matters (Mark) 16

51 Mildly Prolific MS Bloggers - so far in 2008!!

A Life of Learning with MS 15
Behind Blue Eyes (Zee) 15
Katy and Mike’s Adventure (Katy) 15
Living Life as a Snowflake (Sharon) 15
Mandatory Rest Period (Kim) 15
MS Maze (Mandy) 15
My Journey with MS (Christina) 15
The Multiple Sclerosis Companion (Pat) 15
‘Tis Herself (Kell) 15
A Short in the Cord (Joan) 14
Blindbeard’s MS Blog 14
Bubbie’s Blog (Cathy) 14
One Crazy Chick (Chris) 14
Pat’s Pond (Pat) 14
Rants and Musings (Cutter) 14
G and K’s Mom 13
MS Toolkit 13
Newly Diagnosed with MS (Andrea) 13
One Life (Stephen) 13
MS Not Just a Diary (Doug) 12
Rayne’s World (Jayme) 12
Chaos Personified 11
My MS Journal (Jaime) 11
Purely Patsy (14 yr old Patsy) 11
Victoria Plum - Technician! (Victoria) 11

26 Less Prolific MS Bloggers - so far in 2008!!

Broken Clay (Katja) 10
Mark Pickup (Mark) 10
My Chain Driven Ride through Life in Alaska (Michelle) 10
Deborah Does Navel-Gazing (Deb) 9
Funky Mango’s Musings 9
Inside the Mind of a Squirrel 9
Living Well with MS (Michon) 9
No Time for MS (Courtney) 9
Sorting It All Out (Michael) 9
Travels With Lucy (Virginia) 9
MS Caregivers (Prudence) 8
Can You Hear Me Now? (Donna) 7
Irreverence is Justified 7
Multiple Sclerosis Notes 7
My Tysabri Diary (Lauren) 7
Chris Has MS (Chris) 6
Diary of MS X (7 Divas) 5
Electrical Disturbance (Stephan) 5
Know Multiple Sclerosis 5
MS in the OC (Frank) 5
MS News and Notes (Deb) 5
MS Recovery Diet Blog (Ann) 5
The Endomorph (Ruth) 5
The Jaws of My Life (Jaws) 5
Time to Deal with MS (Homer) 5
YodaMamma MS & More 5

38 Barely Prolific MS Bloggers - so far in 2008!!

Some of these folks have multiple blogs or co-blog and are loved none-the-less!! Let’s help spread the love and let them know that WE know they are appreciated.

Carolyne’s MS Odyssey (Carolyne) 4
Defeating Illness (Chris) 4
Intent, Context, Perception (Chris) 4
Libbi’s MS Journey (Libbi) 4
MS Recovery Diet Blog (Judi) 4
My Autoimmune Life 4
The Life & Times of Sancho Knotwise (JM) 4
The Zen Pretzel Trick (Zen Angel) 4
When it’s Raining… (Keeley) 4
Kebenaran - The Truth 3
Montana Homecoming (Sister Jane) 3
Ms Quill 3
Reality Chick (Keli) 3
Catch My Disease (Lisle) 2
Clods and Pebbles 2
Dissonance 2
Georgia MS Advocates 2
Lazy Dog Public House 2
Looking Forward with MS (Pamela) 2
Surviving MS in Alaska (Michelle) 2
These Pretzels Are Making Me Thirsty (Trrish) 2
Troy’s Multiple Sclerosis Experience 2
You Me and MS (Judi) 2
Camille’s MSadventures 1
Comment Column (Virginia) 1
Erik’s MS & Lyme Blog 1
Hop Bloody Hop (Philip) 1
Jenn’s Journey with MS (Jenn) 1
Living with MS (Cyndee) 1
Mismorphic’s World of MS 1
MS Musings 1
MS Real Life Stories & Issues (Kristin) 1
Postcards of My Life (Sherry) 1
Rebooting Times 1
Shoester (Doug) 1
The BS of My MS (Heather) 1
The Perseverant Pincushion (Trish) 1
Tysabri Help (Deej) 1

Having too many items from various posters to count:

LJ Users with Multiple Sclerosis

And finally - 26 MS Bloggers who have been silent in 2008!!

Angst on a Shoestring (Gina)
Dandelion Wine (Lynx)
Doug’s MS Journal (Doug)
Imagine Bliss Butterfly (Suzy)
It’s Not All in My Head (Optimist)
Just Above the Abyss (Heidi)
Life with MS , seeking a cure (Karyl)
Managing MS with Tai Chi (Joel)
Managing Multiple Sclerosis
Marciarita
Michele’s Blog
Mike’s Place
MS - My Scene (Virginia)
My Complications (Amanda)
My Demyelination (Tina)
My MS Experience
Object of My Injection (Michelle)
Say It Isn’t So (Mouse)
Talk Story with Kimberly
The Great NetXperiment
To Be Continued… (Jaime)
Truth and Beauty (Baraka)
Tryin’ to Imagine Bliss (Suzy)
What is MS to Me (Dave)
Willy’s MS Rants
Wind Among the Reeds

Hard to categorize:

I Have MS (Tim)
Huggins’ MS Pages (James)
MS - A Personal Account
MS Protocols (Jeff)
MSB’s Podcast
MSing Around
Multiple Sclerosis Blog and News
Multiple Sclerosis Sucks
OUCH! It’s a Disability Thing
Squiffy’s House of Fun

Thank you for helping to build a stronger MS Community.

An MS Maze Recommendation:

Straying from the topic of MS, my first post for a blog titled, “Women Over 40 Rock” is now online. This blog is an offshoot of In The Trenches Productions, whose purpose is to help celebrate the power and the beauty of women over 40. Take a moment, if you will, to pay us a visit. This is not a man-bashing forum nor is it a place to moan and groan. It is meant to be an uplifting experience for women…and the men who love them.

You are encouraged to leave comments and participate in the forum. The blog can be accessed directly or through the website. In fact, the MS Maze blogroll will get you there in a flash.

Excerpt from Mandy’s post, “Our Time Is Now”:

Face it, 40 isn’t the new 30 any more than 60 is the new 40. But so what? We no longer feel compelled to lie about our age. We’ve earned those numbers and do not shrink from admitting them. We no longer feel it necessary to add “for my age” to the end of each sentence when we see ourselves in a mirror and admit that we look pretty good. Far from hanging up the “out of order” sign, aging prepares us to experience that which is to come. Our confidence, not to be confused with youth’s false bravado, is real, and comes from deep within. We’ve learned to trust our instincts in our quest to realize our potential.

Speaking for myself, this is one over-40 woman who will not sit on the sidelines, content to watch the young girls have all the fun.

My Time is now. How about you?

Click for complete article. “Our Time Is Now”

Women Over 40 Rock!

In The Trenches Productions

Lisa Emrich of Brass and Ivory presents her Carnival of MS Bloggers #3. It’s a great opportunity to sample the writings of our fellow MS bloggers all in one location. Thank you, Lisa, for organizing the carnival.

While you’re at it, take a few moments to navigate around Brass and Ivory and read Lisa’s thought provoking posts regarding multiple sclerosis and big pharma. Her blog is a must read!

HealthCentral.com’s Multiple Sclerosis Site has been updated with a brand new look and feel. Now it’s easier than ever to keep up with the latest news and information about MS. And keep an eye out for more improvements in the months to come.

Click on over and connect with HealthCentral’s MS community. Register to create your own Share Posts, leave comments, suggest topics and choose email newsletters. Read what patients, doctors and other interested parties are saying.

Take a moment to subscribe to my Share Posts — then sit back, relax and let your inbox do the work. I’m very excited to be part of this wonderful group and look forward to your participation. See you there!

Read Mandy’s Posts:

Strength in Numbers
Keep the “Hustle and Bustle” in Perspective
MS Lives Here
Diagnosis: Now What?
Health Care Crisis is All Too Real
Hmmm…..I DO Look Pretty Good!
Health Care Crisis Gets Personal
A Third Party in Our Marriage
Health Care on the Front Lines
There’s Something I Need to Tell You…