The Wolf Finally Frees Itself
— Brianna Albers

It’s been a minute since I put my degree in counseling to good use. Let’s change that, shall we? Last week, I wrote about a recent ghost vacation. For those who didn’t read that column, here’s the gist: I came back from this year’s Cure SMA conference with a…

“Sometimes I pretend I’m dead.” This sounds like the lead-in to a particularly macabre joke. But in actuality, it’s a personal practice with the potential to revolutionize our approach to self-care. My friend Andrea Hannah calls it a “ghost vacation.” “Sometimes I pretend I’m dead,” Andrea likes to…

Three years into my collaboration with biotech company Genentech, and I still feel like a fish out of water. This is what professionals call impostor syndrome (IS), defined by Lexico as “the persistent inability to believe that one’s success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a…

I could tell you about Old Santa Fe, New Mexico. Cobblestone streets, framed by blooms of green. The town jail turned bookstore — a refuge from the heat, and a haven for my mom and me. St. Francis’ cathedral, with winding, tranquil gardens. I could tell you about the Painted…

For the first time in three years, I’m on the road again. By the time you read this, I’ll be a day out from Anaheim, California. This isn’t the first time my parents and I have made this trip — in 2019, we spent two weeks road-tripping across the…

My parents’ dreams revolve around the middle of nowhere. You probably think I’m joking. But the fact remains that I’m writing this column from a tiny town in Wisconsin with a population in the 800s. They’ve been nurturing this dream for as long as I can remember. Looking back, I…

No matter how hard I try, there are things I continually forget. Take, for example, the few times I’ve hosted parties. I’m an introvert through and through, so hosting isn’t exactly my forte, but I love spending time with friends. I was so excited for my very first dinner party…

In my mind, Luke Skywalker was in love with me. For context: I was never much of a Lego girl. But I was a “Star Wars” girl. It stood to reason, then, that the Lego Star Wars games were right up my alley. I loved everything to do with…

When it comes to healthcare, I’ve had remarkably good luck. There are, of course, bad apples. See, for example, the gastroenterologist who rambled about “The Odyssey” as he punctured my stomach lining. Or the surgeon who, in my young, still-developing mind, undeniably had it out for me. (A classic…

There’s nothing quite as satisfying as checking an item off your bucket list. Earlier this year, I put on my big girl pants and rescheduled a long-awaited tattoo appointment. It was a whole ordeal — one you’ll remember if you’ve been reading my column for a while. In late January,…

A year after I started fine-tuning the seating of my new wheelchair, I found myself back where it all started. I wrote a few weeks ago about my continuing struggles with the chair. Since then, one of three programming problems has been solved. My seating appointment was meant to…

My first Evrysdi-versary passed without incident. Ironic, considering how much time and effort I put into acquiring the medication. A disease-modifying treatment (DMT) for SMA is no small thing. Spinraza (nusinersen) took the community by storm, with patients around the world petitioning their insurance companies. I wasn’t immune to the…