It's nice to meet you. I'm the Dude With Sjogrens.

One thing about living in the year 2020: the learning curve has changed on what living with mental health issues really looks like. It just took a series of events that were beyond anyone's control.

It is a challenge living with mental illnes...

What defines a successful person and what makes for a successful life? I think it’s the motivation, the ability to overcome adversity, and the ability to influence and have an impact on those around us.

I’ve been successful. That doesn’t make me...

For many of us, it is a daily struggle to get things done because of a lack of organizational skills, or constantly shifting tasks or workloads.

There is hope.

Struggling to be organized, and to set and manage priorities, also affects people...

In January 2019, I was interviewed for a podcast on Sjogrens Strong. This is the podcast.

I have lived with the symptoms of Sjögren’s Syndrome since I was a child. It took a lot of time and

 I've told people for many years that I run a marathon a day. This can seem like a very odd statement

What strategies can atheletes and people living with disease learn from each other about successful strategies?

The purpose of this article is to give a good understanding of what Sjögren’s Syndrome is in common language. It is a starting point. 

Sjogren's Syndrome is a disease primarily of dry eyes and dry mouth. Ever wonder what primarily means? 

What an odd name for an article! You either have hope or you don't, right? 

No diagnosis yet, what do I do in the meantime? 

Facing difficult situations alone can be unbearable. It's worse when it seems like nobody else understands.

There seems to be some confusion on what a charitable organization is and what their role is

How do I make every moment count? 

It can be a real struggle to keep up with things, especially when your ability to adapt or to control the rate of change is reduced.

In many cases, figuring out our health issues can be similar to putting a puzzle together.   

My exeperience recently with a series of drug shortages. This is the most recent one.

It can be confusing to a doctor when someone says that their pain is a 6 when they are sitting with a broken leg, or a serious puncture or gunshot wound

Psoriasis is a heavyweight autoimmune disease. What is it, and what possible crossover is there with Sjogren's Syndrome?

This article will focus on Radio Frequency Ablation for dealing with nerve and back pain. 

How do I get more done when I have a disease that limits my movement, energy, or ability to stay focused?   

Systems can be simple or complex. The success of a system is in its complexity.

So, a little disclosure here: I am a business consultant, with a strong communications and technology background

Why do we struggle with getting things organized

Sometimes, desperate situations call for desperate measures, but do the benefits outweigh the consequences?

Overlapping disorders occur when two or more health issues share common traits  

This article will focus on treating the symptoms with different eye drops. Not all eye drops are created equal.

We see other people who have the same disease who are doing well, and so we assume that they obviously don’t have it as badly as we do. 

For a person who is needing more than a cookie cutter solution, there needs to be a way of getting different health care.

People always struggle with the cause of their medical condition. 

 Why would I want another diagnosis? The obvious answer is that I don't

People try to say positive things to us, but they always seem to come out negatively  

One of the biggest struggles for people who live with a chronic health condition is recognizing legitimate health treatments

It can be a very difficult thing looking over the edge of a cliff and then ending up on the edge hanging on by your fingernails. 

I'm able to really feel emotions for the first time in my life after many years of living with a disorder called cataplexy.  

I was asked by a contact about how I was diagnosed with Mast Cell Activation Syndrome. Here's my story 

Being on the border of blacking out several times a day is a terrifying place to be 

This article is an anniversary that I celebrate as a major recovery. I have been sober for twenty-five years. 

A questionnaire designed to help better educate all of us on Sjogren's Syndrome.

There is always a chance that things may intersect but not really be related. What does this look like in health 

One very common term that is used in both medical and in the technical circles is a "baseline."  

Research drives knowledge. This often evolves into a better understanding of what diseases can look like, and what kind of treatments are likely to work.

 There have been several times that I have mistaken a person for somebody else. I tend to recognize them because something about them is familiar. 

I lay on an operating table, and then my whole body was paralyzed. It was not the result of anesthetic or freezing

Sjogrens Syndrome can affect a person of either gender, and

I often see a look of surprise on some people's faces when they find out that I am still employed. I qualified for long term disability many years ago. 

Many people talk about their bucket lists. Many don't do

Traveling with medical conditions or with children can make things more difficult. Is it possible?

I found that I was frequently getting asked the same questions about health issues, so I set up a Facebook page called the "Dude with Sjogrens"

It can be a real struggle to keep up with things, especially when your ability to adapt or to control the rate of change is reduced.

A collection of the many other articles that I have written

We are raised to do "The right thing" without understanding the mechanics of it: how does this work?