Fun fact about Bradley Mann: he used to feed boiled eggs to the pet raccoon at his nursery school.
Trust me, this is only the start to an interesting life story that Brad shares openly on his Everydayhealth.com blog, Sleeping with MS. As the title implies, Brad lives with diagnoses of both multiple sclerosis and narcolepsy.
You read right – a double diagnosis.
Yet he writes about his experience with honesty, humor, and always the underlying message that his diseases don’t define him. Far from it.
Here’s a little more on Brad:
- Married to Robynn for more than 18 years
- Long Island native, now living in Jersey
- Worked in banking most of his career
In 2002, Brad started experiencing issues with balance and, eventually, walking. This led to the MS diagnosis, and he writes that a cane became his “new best friend.”
A narcolepsy diagnosis followed in 2009, although, until that point, Brad admitted believing narcolepsy to be a condition created by Hollywood. He also has a sleep behavior disorder in which the mechanism of the brain that paralyzes voluntary movement during vivid dreams stops working.
Through his blog, Brad hopes to write about his health, how he manages his diagnoses and symptoms. He also wants to share the everyday stories of life and family – for one, the role that laughter and comedy have played in the family’s adaptation to Brad’s health.
Scrolling through the blog, some of the things Brad has written about: 5 apps to help simplify life with MS, the challenges of invisible disabilities, reading recommendations about people who have MS, the partnership between doctor and MS patient.
Although I don’t think Brad has written recently, I’d recommend checking out what he’s already written. It can be refreshing to read and connect to another’s experience, however foreign or familiar.
And don’t forget – March is MS Awareness Month, not to mention March 11 was Narcolepsy Awareness Day. Starting a blog, as Brad did, is a great platform for spreading awareness.
