The Fifth Year
It is July 9, 2017. We are entering our fifth year without Tom. I started my day as I will always do on July 9: Remembering our lost loved one. I woke up early and tried to think of something to say on Facebook. Mostly because I always want to ...
Keep Calm And Carrie On!
Yesterday, May 7, I officially participated in Walk MS for the first time. And I plan attending as many walks as I can as long as I am able bodied. Not familiar with Walk MS? Well, let me fill you in. Straight from the National MS Society ...
Planning Our Wedding – Already!
We're getting married in December! It is now April 2017, and we're already in planning mode. And while I'd love to share all of the details with you, I would like some things to be a surprise. But I promise to discuss more of the details once we've ...
We’re Getting Married!
This is going to be a long one, guys! Back in December, Randy and I planned a trip to New York, one of my favorite cities to visit. And while I always know I have to be prepared for some nerve pain and a potential flare up, I didn't think about ...
A Former Blackhawk Has MS
NHL player Bryan Bickell was just diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. [caption id="attachment_29386" align="alignright" width="300"] From my Hawks-themed 29th birthday party.[/caption] Let me start by saying I'm a Chicago Blackhawks fan. Most ...
Why I’ll Never Forget 9/11
Today is 9/11/2016. It has been 15 years since the most tragic day in American history that many of us have witnessed in our lifetime. I was a junior in high school. I'll certainly never forget the day. It's vivid in my mind. I went to school ...
The Importance of Awareness (and Living Life)
"Walk MS helps us team up with friends, loved ones and co-workers to change the world for everyone affected by MS. Together, we become a powerful force. And with every step we take, every dollar we raise…we’re that much closer." - National MS ...
Inside MS: You’re Getting On My Last Nerve
Ah, nerve pain. How I wish your signals would crawl back into the depths of my brain and stay there ... forever. It has been a while since I wrote my last blog. I wish I could say that I have been busy with work and planning an epic bachelorette ...
Inside MS: Look Into My Eyes
Like a lot of other illnesses, multiple sclerosis is often an invisible disease. There are many internal symptoms people with MS are battling, and you may not even be aware anything is wrong. Let's start with vision. [caption ...
Happy MS Awareness Month!
March has always been a special month for me. First, my birthday is the 8th. Second, I share my birthday with International Women's Day (and the birthday of Monkees drummer Micky Dolenz!). And a few months ago, I realized that March is National MS ...
New Year, New Me?
Happy 2016! I made it through the holidays and another infusion. Honestly, there's not much to tell. But...I'm finally back to work downtown! I had a rough couple of months at the end of last year, and my employer was very supportive in allowing ...
Slow and Steady to Prep for the Race
It has been about four months since my first major relapse started, and I just had my third Tysabri infusion. I'm not feeling any side effects from the medication (thankfully!), but this is no picnic. 1. I have small veins. That's not a problem ...
The First Treatment
After talking it over with my neurologist's nurse, I chose a treatment: Tysabri. It is a monthly infusion that effectively stops the progression of relapsing/remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) in many with the disease. Being on Tysabri does ...
The Road to Treatment: Insurance Woes
I can't remember the first time I heard the phrase "cut through the red tape," but those words didn't really affect me until I tried to get an approval for MS treatment. At this time, there are 13 treatments for MS... -Injectables: Avonex, ...
The Diagnosis is in…
It all started in January 2012, and since then I have documented a laundry list of symptoms, doctor visits, lab tests and many other parts of my journey toward a diagnosis. I finally have one. However, a lot has happened since I last wrote, so ...
Miles for Melanoma 2015
It was Thursday, July 9, and another year had passed as Team Z continued "living for a good time" ... just as our dear friend, Tom Ziarko, always did. It was two years ago that we lost the light in our life who passed away after bravely battling ...
Overcoming Shyness
Reading yesterday's paper, I came across a story that seemed eerily familiar. In the Daily Southtown, freelance reporter Cheryl Dangel Bartolini wrote a lovely piece about a senior student at Andrew High School in Tinley Park. "Grace Mooney said ...
Ethan Gray: One Tough Cookie
On the surface, Ethan Gray looks like a typical high school student. A senior at St. Rita of Cascia High School, the 18-year-old jokes with his friends, plays in the school band and volunteers at local churches. But when you get to know him, you can ...
Whitney Reynolds’ Health Scare
I met Whitney Reynolds over a year ago when TCW was featured on a special episode of her talk show, The Whitney Reynolds Show, on WYCC. She's one of the hardest working women I know...bright, bubbly and a good friend. So when I saw some alarming ...
Untested Rape Kits: Real Life on TV
A recent episode of Law & Order: SVU highlighted the problem of untested rape kits in this country. The episode showed how New York detectives spent about a week tracking down a serial rapist from Atlanta to Milwaukee to New York, and at the end ...
Shermin Kruse’s Mission
Shermin Kruse has quite the life story. As a child, she lived in Iran, in the middle of a bloody war with neighboring Iraq and under the control of Iran’s post-revolutionary secret police. She spent the better days of her youth dodging rockets and ...
When Domestic Violence Goes Viral
No doubt you've heard about what went down in an elevator between (now former) Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice and his wife Janay Palmer. You've likely seen the video on TMZ or via some news outlet. If you haven't, the story goes like ...
Still Living for a Good Time
My main influence for starting my own blog on TCWmag.com was my friend Tom (pictured right, second to last in the back row...taken during one of our many trips to Michigan). I’ve written about him a lot, and I have an amazing group of friends who ...
Living Without Fear
There are many definitions for the word family. Some of my favorites include "a group of people united by certain convictions or a common affiliation" and "a group of things related by common characteristics." But when you really think about it, ...
Rolling Through Women’s Bike Month
When you log on to Facebook, you see a myriad of posts. Another high school acquaintance had her baby, another old friend got engaged, someone snapped a shot of her bagel sandwich from some obscure breakfast spot you've never heard of. And ...
Why Wasn’t Donald Sterling Punished Earlier?
What can I say about the recently announced punishment bestowed upon Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling? I can only point to this blog post by former NBA star Kareem Abdul-Jabaar that was posted on TIME.com. In it, he writes: Moral outrage ...
Miles for Melanoma 2014
You may or may not have read a very personal blog post I wrote last year about my dear friend Tomasz Ziarko. If you haven't read it, please take the time to read about a courageous, caring man who passed away after battling melanoma for ...
Each New Year’s a New Beginning
How many times have you seen a "New Year, New You" or "New Year, New Beginning" headline in a newspaper or magazine? It's always the same, year after year, so I'd like to dig a little deeper and explain why I believe each new year provides a fresh ...
What the Jameis Winston Presser Taught Us
Florida State Seminoles quarterback Jameis Winston, who was connected to an alleged rape case in December 2012, will not be charged with sexual battery. State Attorney Willie Meggs says it's "because we would not have...the reasonable likelihood of ...
Emilia DiMenco Works Through Cancer
As president/CEO of the Chicago-based Women's Business Development Center (WBDC), Emilia DiMenco oversees the operation of a national organization with grace and poise. And when she first became involved with the WBDC, you wouldn't have even known ...
The Healing Power of Music
Everyone has their own way of coping, their own way of carrying on through tough times. For me, music has always been a huge help in pushing me down rough roads. While I could go on and on about my love affair with music, I'll only go back as far ...
Only the Good Die Young
I'm not sure Billy Joel knew just how true his songwriting would ring years later, but his '77 hit "Only the Good Die Young" seems to play over and over in my head when tragedy strikes. I've been around young death ever since I can remember, and ...
One Step Forward, One Step Back
I joined TCW in July 2012. I moved up (in terms of positions) in the media and joined what I knew to be a successful, respected, revered Chicago staple. I can't even begin to describe the amount of excitement I felt. At the same time, my health ...
Earn Your Place, Kiddos!
I keep seeing these web articles and blogs about how interns should be paid. How corporations are taking advantage of helpless college students by making them work their fingers to the bone for free. There’s even a petition going around for Sheryl ...
You Can’t Blame Absent Parents
My parents separated when I was in second grade and, after a lengthy court battle, finally divorced when I was 10 years old. I love my dad, but I can't say we're close. He rarely made it to a soccer game; he didn't come to my high school ...
The Agony of Success
While pro athletes seem invincible, we can't forget that they (and others who work in the sports world) have to push through tough times at work just like anyone else. This past weekend, I attended the 6th Annual Chicago Blackhawks Convention at ...
You Live for a Good Time…
"You live for a good time, not a long time." - Tomasz Ziarko Tom and I became fast friends a few years ago when our mutual high school friends from Mother McAuley (where I went), Brother Rice, Queen of Peace, St. Laurence (where he went) – and ...
Carrie On Joins TCW
I joined TCW as managing/digital editor over a year ago, so I figured it was about time I join the ranks as one of our official bloggers. But what do I blog about? I'm not an interior decorator, a mom, professional traveler, doctor, et cetera. Am I ...