Health Expert Dan and Jennifer Digmann shares health management news and commentary at HealthCentral.com. HealthCentral.com is one of the top health destinations on the Web, with more than 35 condition-specific, wellness and general health Web properties. http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/129542/index http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/129542/rss self application/xml en-us 15 120 19 http://www.healthcentral.com/images/hc_logo_sm.gif http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/129542/index http://www.healthcentral.com/multiple-sclerosis/c/129542/160321/question-4-sleep Mon, 15 Apr 2013 12:17:00 -0400 Dan and Jennifer Digmann Our morning “routine” started at 5:30 today. It has become quite standard for Dan and me, and tends to go a lot like this:   The alarm-radio goes off, usually to some popular tune we both enjoy, and eventually Dan snoozes the music.   “Ten more minutes and then we will get up,” he assures himself and me. Ten short minutes later, the music starts again. Dan will say, “Just once more.” To which... http://www.healthcentral.com/multiple-sclerosis/c/129542/160321/question-4-sleep http://www.healthcentral.com/multiple-sclerosis/c/129542/159606/question-fatigue Tue, 12 Mar 2013 13:32:00 -0400 Dan and Jennifer Digmann Dan and I were in Iowa this past weekend. From our house in Michigan to the hotel we stayed at in Iowa City (we were guest speakers at the NMSS Upper Midwest Chapter event there), it was roughly 500 miles.   Dan is from Iowa, so in addition to our speaking, it was a wonderful trip full of family, great friends and lots of baby kisses from our nieces. Love all of these things and they make the eight-hour car trip worth it. Really, for both... http://www.healthcentral.com/multiple-sclerosis/c/129542/159606/question-fatigue http://www.healthcentral.com/multiple-sclerosis/c/129542/159006/back Thu, 07 Feb 2013 17:43:00 -0500 Dan and Jennifer Digmann I don’t like to complain much. As far as the side effects resulting from my Multiple Sclerosis, I try to keep them pretty private.   Well, other than the wheelchair giving away the reality that I can no longer walk, or the occasional blog post or HeathCentral article where we share our experiences living with the disease. But Dan and I try not to complain or admit a debilitating effect of this disease we share.   However, truth... http://www.healthcentral.com/multiple-sclerosis/c/129542/159006/back http://www.healthcentral.com/multiple-sclerosis/c/129542/158378/week Tue, 08 Jan 2013 21:58:00 -0500 Dan and Jennifer Digmann I often joke that when I die the inscription on my headstone should read, “Sorry I’m late!”   It seems I always am apologizing for my tardiness. As Dan will attest, I’m pokey. I futz. I putter. But mostly I underestimate how long it will take me to get myself ready to walk out the door… um, so to speak.   Last year my caregiver Travis tried to instill in me the lesson that he believes in: “To be... http://www.healthcentral.com/multiple-sclerosis/c/129542/158378/week http://www.healthcentral.com/multiple-sclerosis/c/129542/157939/count Mon, 17 Dec 2012 04:29:00 -0500 Dan and Jennifer Digmann I wonder if 13 years from now I’ll wish I had today back.   Will I be saying I should have thought, should have said, should have done differently today?   I wonder.   Not that there’s anything so wrong or significant about today … yet. As Jennifer and I have learned, and we’ve all seen too often lately, that life can change in the blink of an eye.    It was 13 years ago – Dec. 17, 1999... http://www.healthcentral.com/multiple-sclerosis/c/129542/157939/count http://www.healthcentral.com/multiple-sclerosis/c/129542/157683/week Mon, 03 Dec 2012 17:38:00 -0500 Dan and Jennifer Digmann Do you Facebook? Sounds like a silly question right? It seems like most everyone uses the social media site to stay in touch with friends and family. Heck, I graduated from high school 20 years ago, and even my 10th grade English teacher found me and now we are “friends.” Really, that is pretty cool.   I enjoy catching up on the activities and goings-on of all my friends, but this morning Facebook brought up some feelings in me... http://www.healthcentral.com/multiple-sclerosis/c/129542/157683/week http://www.healthcentral.com/multiple-sclerosis/c/129542/156971/hotel Sun, 04 Nov 2012 23:04:00 -0500 Dan and Jennifer Digmann It was supposed to be the perfect trip. We were celebrating Dan’s 40th birthday with a couple of his closest friends in a fantastic city, Chicago.   And the best part: We had tickets to see Dan’s favorite, Bruce Springsteen and his legendary E Street Band at Wrigley Field.   Sounds like a perfect trip, right?   It was, but while we were there, I experienced one of the scariest moments of my... http://www.healthcentral.com/multiple-sclerosis/c/129542/156971/hotel http://www.healthcentral.com/multiple-sclerosis/c/129542/156414/radio Wed, 10 Oct 2012 07:13:00 -0400 Dan and Jennifer Digmann Disclosing our MS diagnosis to others is a matter both Jennifer and I seriously contemplated after being diagnosed in 1997 and 2000, respectively.   Telling family members and friends wasn’t as big of a concern as breaking the news to our employers was.   According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society website, “When it comes down to it, the decision is yours and yours alone — you know yourself and your situation... http://www.healthcentral.com/multiple-sclerosis/c/129542/156414/radio http://www.healthcentral.com/multiple-sclerosis/c/129542/156283/visit Tue, 02 Oct 2012 21:17:00 -0400 Dan and Jennifer Digmann By definition, multiple sclerosis is an unpredictable disease of the central nervous system. But you never would have guessed that with the way we each went into recent trips to our neurologists.   We both predicted what our respective specialist would tell us. Perhaps this prognosticating is the result of Jennifer living with the disease for almost 15 years and Dan for nearly 13.   OK, so we weren’t 100 percent sure. But as... http://www.healthcentral.com/multiple-sclerosis/c/129542/156283/visit http://www.healthcentral.com/multiple-sclerosis/c/129542/155770/women Thu, 06 Sep 2012 07:13:00 -0400 Dan and Jennifer Digmann Forgive me for being selfish, but after having to use a wheelchair for the last ten years, I asked during my summer independent study at Central Michigan University, “Where are women like me in film?”   After all, according to a May 2002 statistic from the Disability Statistics Center, an estimated 1.6 million Americans who live outside of a health-care facility use wheelchairs to aid in mobility, and of those, women comprise a... http://www.healthcentral.com/multiple-sclerosis/c/129542/155770/women