Kala Godin,  —

Kala is a 22-year-old woman living in Alberta, Canada. She was diagnosed with SMA Type II at 11 months old. She is a columnist, author, and editor. In her weekly column, “The Mermaid Chronic(les),” she discusses life with SMA: from her daily life to the expectation of others. No matter the topic, she tries to keep things silly and sarcastic.

Articles by Kala Godin

I Am Adapting to My New Diagnosis

As it turns out, I wasn’t able to edit my novel in August as I planned. Hospital visits, fatigue, and vacation got the best of me. It looks like it’s going to take more than a month to edit an entire book, so…

Add an MS Diagnosis to My List

“Can I leave?” is a line from my last column. Not many would say that to a possible multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis. But by that point, I wanted to be anywhere else. I tend to handle diagnoses well. I knew nothing more…

SMA Takes a Normal Day and Turns It Upside Down

It’s a normal day. Well, mostly a normal day. My parents come into my room at about 4 a.m. to tell my sister and I that they love us and that they’re heading out. They have a three-hour drive to the airport, and then an hour flight. Their first flight.

Our Pets Are Truly Part of the Family

We have a number of pets, including a small, aging Chihuahua and a few cats. They’re adorable and we love them a lot. The cats follow my younger sister around pretty much wherever she goes, including the bathroom, or they meow and yell on…

Dating, or the Lack Thereof

We see a lot of articles addressing SMA and dating, or dating when an individual is in a wheelchair.  I’ve had little to no experience in dating. I had a boyfriend when I was in middle school, but that was more of a “Well, everyone…

We’re Building a Deck so I Can Be Closer to Nature

We’ve finally had some decent weather. It has been rainy lately, which I thoroughly enjoy because I’m allergic (literally, not figuratively) to the burning orb in the sky that is the sun — both my skin and eyes react. But construction doesn’t happen when it’s raining, which…

Looking for the Good When I’m Feeling Run-down

It is July, the seventh month of 2019, and I am ready for this entire year to be done. I’m not joking. Something drastic and stressful has happened every month so far. Not with me — I’m fine — but I’ve had multiple family members become sick, and…