The Wolf Finally Frees Itself
— Brianna Albers

Everyone and their mother is talking about Zolgensma (AVXS-101). Just like what happened with the release of Spinraza (nusinersen), people everywhere are sharing links to news stories on the groundbreaking new medication. I feel more or less the same as I did in 2016 when…

It’s been, as they say, a day. My parents bought an airplane hangar and are transferring it to our vacation home in Wisconsin. My dad wants to turn it into a work shed, whereas my mom envisions it as an antique store…

I write a lot about brokenness. I always have. It’s one of the themes of my work, not only as a writer — but also as a (future) mental health professional. Looking back, I’m sure it has a lot to do with my childhood, and the…

I’ve always been a night owl. It’s a running joke in our family: My dad and I stay up until 11 p.m. or midnight, while my mom has a strict schedule comprising 8:30 p.m. bedtimes. She gets far too much enjoyment out of our morning grumpiness. If she’s…

I have a reputation in my group of friends for not knowing any music. It’s gotten to the point where my friends have started making playlists of music that I missed out on in high school, such as Rihanna and The Black Eyed Peas. Sometimes when I’m on…

The thing about taking amoxicillin every day for years is that your body builds up an immunity. It works for a while, and then, without warning, it doesn’t, which is why it’s more or less a stopgap measure. You take it until you can’t,…

I was recently asked about resources in the SMA community — what’s available, but also what’s missing and what we would most benefit from. Before I started this column, I didn’t really have much contact with the community. I went to…

I finally got a tattoo. It may not seem like that big of a deal; people get tattoos all the time, sometimes they decide to get inked on a whim. You can show up at a parlor and leave an hour later with your…

I’ve been meaning to update my website for years, so I sat down in January with the intent of revisiting my online presence. It just so happened that my sitting down coincided with my career change, turning a website overhaul into…

I’ve thought about starting an antidepressant medication several times over the years. As a sophomore in college, fresh off the realization that my anxiety and depression weren’t just character flaws but in…

I try to be environmentally conscious. I’ve been using my Google Home for years now, and have been switching as much of my home as possible to smart technology. My Google Chromecast lets me turn my…

I’ve always been a fan of vulnerability, I think because the concept is intrinsic to who I am as a person. I can’t leave the house without accepting vulnerability. To be seen like this, with my wheelchair and bony wrists and abdomen bloated from stomach breathing,…