It was 2013, I was 21 years old, studying abroad in Italy, living the semester every college student dreams about. Then I woke up one morning and my body was sending me signals I didn’t understand – a strange tingling and numbness across my entire body, all at once. I tried to push through it the way you do at that age, assuming it would pass. It didn’t pass. Five weeks later, I was back in the United States, sitting in a doctor’s office, hearing the words “multiple sclerosis” for the first time.

Learning to Carry It

There’s no manual for how to feel when you’re handed a chronic, unpredictable diagnosis in the middle of what’s supposed to be the most carefree stretch of your life. So I felt all of it – sadness, anger, self-pity, fear about what my future would even look like. I remember wondering if MS was going to define every choice I made from that point forward. But somewhere in the middle of that emotional storm, I made a decision, even if I couldn’t have put it into words at the time: I was going to keep moving forward. Not because I had it figured out, but because stopping didn’t feel like an option.

The following year, I finished my degree in Finance, and not long after that I moved to New York City to start my career. Life just kept going. I looked for other people who understood what this diagnosis actually felt like, but I couldn’t find anything that fit. So I did the only thing that felt possible: I pushed it to the background and pushed forward. I wanted MS to be a footnote in my story, not the headline, and for years, on the surface, that’s exactly what it was.

The Shift

Fast forward to Covid (2020). I moved back to Connecticut, and for the first time since my diagnosis, I had space to actually sit with everything MS had been to me – the fear of waking up with the numbness and tingling back in 2013, the anger in my early twenties, the years I spent trying to outrun it. And I started thinking about impact differently. I didn’t want anything to do with this disease before. Now, I wanted to help others living with it. That shift became ms life.

Building What I Wished I’d Had

I’m the founder of ms life, a company built to support and empower people living with multiple sclerosis.

After being diagnosed, I struggled to find a space that felt genuinely supportive and understanding – not clinical, not overly formal, just real. That gap is what inspired ms life, and it’s grown into a welcoming space where people with MS can connect, share their journeys, and find meaningful support.

Our mission is simple: give people a place to talk openly about the realities of MS – the symptoms, the treatments, and the emotional weight that comes with a diagnosis that doesn’t follow a predictable path. Alongside our online community, we publish a monthly newsletter, recently launched our Community Shop with products designed for daily life with MS, and have started hosting in-person events, including a pickleball meetup last August and a Spartan race in March of this year.

Everything we do is built around three pillars:

• Community – Our online forum gives people a space to share experiences, ask questions, and find support from others who genuinely understand MS, because they are affected by it too.
• Education – Through monthly newsletters, personal stories, and curated resources, we help people better understand life with MS. Our Community Shop page adds another layer, offering tools and gear shaped by what our community actually needs.
• Active Living – We believe in the power of movement. Through events and opportunities to stay physically active, we help people with MS stay connected, engaged, and empowered in their bodies.

Last year, we were proud to partner with the National MS Society and were honored to be listed as a featured resource on their online community page.

Why I’m Sharing This

I spent years keeping MS at arm’s length, and I don’t regret that chapter – it’s part of how I got here. But I’ve learned that the thing I once wanted to avoid became the thing that gave my work the most meaning. If you’re newly diagnosed, or years into this like I am, or somewhere in between still figuring out what MS means for your life: you don’t have to have it figured out today.

If you’d like to be part of what we’re building, come check us out at www.mslifecommunity.com and follow us on Instagram at mslife.community.

By the way – that full-body tingling and numbness…Most of it faded over time. My hands and feet still tingle to this day. But we move forward.

Best,

Nick

About the Author – Nick Guarino, 34, lives in Connecticut and graduated from Quinnipiac University in 2014. I am passionate about travel, staying active, reading, and spending time with friends & family. I founded ms life – a welcoming, empowering space where individuals affected by MS can connect, share their journeys, and find meaningful support.