I ask myself, “my journey is on it’s thirteenth year now”? Eleven of those years, I’ve been away. When I acquired MMN and symptoms began in 2012 and 2013, I had to quit my job. Socializing, I heard “your arms are getting skinny”. “Your calves, where did they go old man”? “You lost your shooters…
My name is John Navarro, and I was diagnosed with Multifocal Motor Neuropathy (MMN) in February 2024, becoming Gibraltar’s only known patient with this rare neurological condition. MMN is a chronic, progressive illness that affects the nerves controlling muscle movement, causing weakness and fatigue. Like many others with rare diseases, my journey to diagnosis was…
The life I thought I was going to have was just that beginning in 2012. Being an athlete, I always took pride in keeping in shape. I was a concrete finisher by trade and exercised regularly. Running several miles once a week was part of my routine. Sports was one of my passions and played…
Saturday I ripped the Band-Aid off and took my rollator, Gert, out for her maiden voyage. It was harder than I thought it would be and I cried for the first five minutes. I think you always hold out hope things will get better and we are not always honest with ourselves. MMN is progressive…
I am a patient living with MMN and was diagnosed in early 2020 after being misdiagnosed twice with ALS. Experiencing progressive symptoms, watching myself get weaker and lose muscle mass, and then being told I have a terminal disease was one of the most trying experiences of my life. I will never forget the day…
I started having symptoms in my right thumb in 2013. I was pregnant at the time, so every doctor I saw wrote it off as carpel tunnel and told me to come back if it didn’t go away once I gave birth. Needless to say, it didn’t! My whole hand, then slowly my wrist and…
The train is here, and I’m already late for work. Better sprint the short 50 m distance between my front door and the train station – as I am quickly becoming a master at. It’s been raining, and the steps up to the platform are soaking. I’m panting heavily, the conductor’s whistle has been blown,…
I was born with a very mild case of cerebral palsy. It mainly affected the strength and dexterity of my right arm and leg. I was always able to compensate for it and was usually surprised when someone would ask about my limp. Fast forward many years and all of a sudden my left foot…
In 2008 I was strong and working out daily at my gym. I enjoyed running and tending to my seven gardens in between working in the pharmaceutical profession and raising my two children. I had noticed what felt like a callus on the pad of my right foot near my toes. It was bothersome and…
I have been showing a positive “face” for quite some time now and life hasn’t been exactly rainbows and butterflies the past 6 years. Around the same time I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I was having horrible cramps in my right calf & toes. Doctors kept saying “You’re so active. You’re just dehydrated. Eat…
By Patrick Bohan Over 13 years I have had nine neurologists evaluate and retake my medical history. Whenever diagnosis is elusive, having a medical history retaken by different doctors is not a bad idea. After all, a fresh set of eyes may uncover important information. [1] Over those 13 years I have had 4 different…
Looking back, there were signs… My energy was not what it once was, I was tripping frequently, I was feeling tingling in my toes, and my legs began to feel heavy after walking for a while. But it was nothing that was slowing me down. As many moms will attest, we’re the last ones to…