Navigating Life with Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) causes a myriad of physical, cognitive, and emotional symptoms that impact function and quality of life for those with the disease and those providing care. Navigating Life with Multiple Sclerosis is a practical guide for meeting the challenges of this life-long, unpredictable disease.

This insightful guide offers a detailed description of the essential components of comprehensive MS care, from disease and symptom management, rehabilitation to enhance function, safety and independence, social and emotional support, and attention to overall health and wellness for both patients and caregivers. Each chapter offers solutions and guidance based upon the authors' interdisciplinary perspectives and years of clinical and research experience. The person with MS is the center of the care team and this book provides guidance for communicating effectively with healthcare providers, participating comfortably in shared decision making, and advocating confidently for personal healthcare needs and priorities.

Kathleen Costello, ANP-BC, MSCN is the Chief Operating Officer for Can Do Multiple Sclerosis, an organization dedicated to delivering health and wellness education for families living with MS. She is also adjunct faculty in the Division of Neuroimmunology and Neuroinfectious Diseases at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. Costello earned both her Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Master of Science degrees at the University of Maryland. She is a Board-certified Adult Nurse Practitioner and is also certified as an MS nurse. She specialized in MS care for more than 25 years in academic comprehensive care centers as a nurse and as a nurse practitioner at the University of Maryland and John Hopkins University MS Centers. She is a past president of the International Organization of MS Nurses and previously chaired the MS Specialist Certification Committee for the Consortium of MS Centers. She has worked with the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation on their successful efforts to add MS medications to the World Health Organization essential medicines list and has written and lectured extensively on MS and MS care.

Rosalind Kalb, PhD, is the Senior Programs Consultant for Can Do Multiple Sclerosis. She is a clinical psychologist, providing MS care and education for over 40 years. After receiving her doctorate from Fordham University in New York, she provided mental health services and cognitive remediation at the Medical Rehabilitation Research and Training Center for MS at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and later at the MS Comprehensive Care Center in White Plains, NY. Dr. Kalb joined the National MS Society in 2000, creating online resources and educational materials for individuals and families living with MS and healthcare professionals until 2017.

Barbara S. Giesser, MD, FAAN, FANA, is Professor Emeritus of Clinical Neurology at the David Geffan UCLA School of Medicine and currently leads the MS program at Pacific Neuroscience Institute in Santa Monica, CA. She is an internationally recognized clinician and award-winning educator who has specialized in the care of persons with Multiple Sclerosis for over 40 years. Dr. Giesser received her BS from the University of Miami, her MS from the University of Texas School of Biomedical Sciences in Houston, and her MD from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. She completed her neurology residency at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and did fellowship training in MS there at the Medical Rehabilitation Research and Training Center for MS. She was faculty at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine from 1983 until 1991 and was subsequently faculty at the University of Arizona Health Science Center before joining UCLA in 2002.

About the Brain and Life® Books Series

Section 1 MS Overview
Chapter 1 What is MS?
Chapter 2 Diagnosing MS
Chapter 3 Comprehensive Care Over the Lifetime

Section 2 Symptoms of MS
Chapter 4 Multiple Sclerosis Related Fatigue
Chapter 5 Mobility Symptoms
Chapter 6 Sensory Symptoms
Chapter 7 Mood and Cognition
Chapter 8 Bladder and Bowel

Section 3 Health and Wellness
Chapter 9 Your Overall Health and Wellness
Chapter 10 Support Partners, Care Partners, Carers, Caregivers - This is about You
Chapter 11 Exercise and Physical Activity
Chapter 12 Diet and Nutrition
Chapter 13 Relationships and Communication
Chapter 14 Intimacy and Sexuality
Chapter 15 Reproductive Issues
Chapter 16 Planning for the Future While Finding Meaning in the Present

Appendix 1: Disease-Modifying Therapies
Appendix 2: Additional Resources

Glossary
About the Authors
About Brain & Life® and the American Academy of Neurology
Index