There are terrible things like Christmas tree fires and drunk driving accidents that usually appear when one puts the words "holiday" and " hazard" together. My list doesn't contain any of those things, but is more of a number of reminders of those things that we encounter during the holidays that make our symptoms act up and bring out the crankiness in those of us with multiple sclerosis (MS).

I will say, however, that when I read part of my list to my mother-in-law (who does not have MS), she remarked that it seemed like good advice for everyone to avoid these things and try to make the holidays a little more sane and peaceful.

Read the full article: Holiday Hazards to Avoid for People with Multiple Sclerosis

I am happy to report that this will be one of the most boring posts that I will write, because my H1N1 vaccine experience was completely and utterly unremarkable.

Last Friday, I took my children in to a local clinic to get their second dose of the H1N1 nasal mist vaccine 28 days after they received their first dose (it is recommended that all children younger than 10 receive 2 doses of H1N1 vaccine to achieve optimal immunity). When I went up to sign them in at the reception desk, I casually asked when they thought that they would be receiving the shot version of the H1N1 vaccine (it is recommended that people with MS NOT receive the nasal mist version of the vaccine, as it contains live virus).

The nurse who was standing there looking at charts responded with a mix of suspicion and defensiveness, as she asked, "Why? Are you pregnant?" She was glaring at my stomach, eyes narrowed, when she asked this. When I responded with a laugh and told her that I was not pregnant, but did have MS, her whole demeanor softened. "You have no idea how mean all these people are being to me," she said. "One man almost hit me today because I told him he didn't qualify for a vaccine at this time."

When I commiserated with her, saying that it must be a nightmare to deal with that all day, she told me that I could have a shot. "After all," she said, "you have MS. You don't need to be worrying about how to get this vaccine, too. Plus, you are being nice to me." With that, she gave me the information sheet, I rolled up my sleeve, and with a complete lack of fanfare, I received my H1N1 shot.

My vaccine was drawn from a multidose vial, meaning it contained a little thimerosal, which I am really not worried about.

I have to say, the discomfort in my arm that day and the next were MUCH less than I had with my seasonal flu shot. I also had very minimal feelings of mild dizziness and "strangeness" afterwards, whereas I felt pretty awful for about 36 hours after getting my seasonal flu shot.

Overall, I am relieved to have gotten the shot. I still have a little cough left over from a respiratory infection that I had in early October, as tends to happen when I get a cough. I take that to mean that I do have a touch of lung dysfunction and am probably at very high risk for pneumonia if I was to catch H1N1.

What about you? Did you get your H1N1 shot? Are you going to? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments section.

There are all sorts of statistics about divorce among people with chronic illnesses like multiple sclerosis (MS). Although the exact numbers vary, depending on the study, divorce and separation rates are consistently higher in couples where one person has a disability or chronic illness.

A recent study from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center decided to look a little deeper into the situation and found some pretty amazing things.

Looking at 515 people (about equal numbers of men and women) who had brain tumors, cancer or MS, and were married at the time of their diagnosis, the researchers found that:

• 11.6% (60) of the participants were divorced or separated within 6 months of diagnosis; however, only 2.9% of the breakups were in couples where the man was the person with the illness, whereas the rate of breakup was 20.8% among affected women
• 96% of the breakups among people with MS were a situation where the woman was the person living with MS
• It was found that the longer that people had been married, the more likely they were to stick together after a diagnosis

What has been your experience since your diagnosis? Has your marriage suffered or grown stronger in the face of MS adversity? Share your story in the comments section below, or tell it here (as well as read about the experiences of others) - Readers Respond: How has MS affected your marriage?

Even though I have never met Patricia Lay Dorsey, I like this woman. A lot.

Ms. Lay Dorsey has been living with primary progressive multiple sclerosis since 1988. Like many of us with MS, the disease not only resulted in physical symptoms, but started to do something even more evil - it made her feel less beautiful and ashamed. Instead of covering up her flaws, she fought back by looking at them more closely through a camera lens. Now she is sharing them with the world and guess what? Those "flaws" are no longer flaws, but elements in a composition, beauty in the way that they reveal this person's soul.

By opening up herself like this, Ms. Lay Dorsey gives us the chance to take a good honest look at ourselves, to not only look beyond the MS, but also to look at our MS straight on. By the end of looking at her photo essay, I can say that I felt calm. I thought about my own MS and felt a little less anger and a little more tolerance with my body that is turning on itself.

I hope others, those living without MS, can take a look at this essay and see what it is in themselves that they need to come to peace with, then take a step towards doing just that. I get the feeling that that is the point of the whole project, really, rather than giving "insight" into what it is like to live with this disease.

As Ms. Lay Dorsey herself says, "People will see us as either terribly inspiring or terribly pathetic. We're either super gimps or just tragic. The fact is we're not either one. We're human beings and we're just living life. Doing the best we can. Everyone has challenges of one kind or another. It just so happens that mine are more visible than others'."