Honored

Due to what I can only imagine must be a clerical error, Healthline.com has selected Wheelchair Kamikaze one of 2016’s 23 best MS blogs. Seriously, though, given the explosion in the number of Multiple Sclerosis themed blogs in recent years, being chosen as one of the best is truly an honor. A big thank you to Healthline for choosing Wheelchair Kamikaze to be part of their list.

I encourage all WK readers to check out the other 22 blogs on the list (click here), which range from highly personal pages written by MSers themselves to blogs maintained by some of the leading MS patient advocacy and research organizations. Certainly, all worth spending time perusing.

On another Healthline.com related note, one of the site’s more eclectic MS features is their slideshow of MS tattoos (click here). Healthline is looking for new submissions for inclusion in the slideshow, so if you've got some MS ink you'd like to show off, simply email a clear photo of your MS body art along with a brief description to nominations@Healthline.com with the subject line "My MS Tattoo".

I would send them a photo of my own MS tattoo, but it's in a very private place. Okay, I'll admit it – it's on my schmeckel and it usually just says "MS Sucks". When I'm excited, though, it says "MS Sucks As Much As Anything Can Possibly Suck And Someone Better Cure It Soon, Dammit! ".

BTW, “schmeckel” is a Yiddish word and if the definition isn’t clear enough (click here). For those of you for whom this is a new word, as an introduction to this vital addition to your vocabulary I encourage you to use “schmeckel” in conversation at least three times today. Please report your successes/failures in the comments section of this post.

Uh-oh, is all of this talk of schmeckels inappropriate? Sure hope this doesn’t disqualify me from the Best MS Blogs of 2017 list…

Healthline has also recently released an MS app called MS Buddy for iOS (click here) and android (click here). MS Buddy is quite unique in the MS app universe. It enables peer-to-peer interaction, allowing MS patients to connect with one another and chat via text message on a one-to-one basis.

After downloading the app, MSers fill out a profile detailing age, sex, type of MS, and MS medications, along with a “break the ice” question to be presented to your potential new MS Buddy (hint: probably best to leave any references to schmeckels out of your "break the ice" question). The app then uses an algorithm to match you with an appropriate buddy, and will send you a new MSer to chat with every day at noon. Dealing with MS can sometimes be a lonely experience and communicating with others who "get it" can be a tremendous relief, so download MS Buddy and give it a try…

Once again, a big thanks to Healthline.com for choosing Wheelchair Kamikaze one of this year’s best MS blogs, and an even bigger thank you to everybody who reads these pages…