I told Jennifer I’d be happy if I finished the 8K at Flint’s Crim Festival of Races in under 50 minutes. That was going to average out to a 10-minute-per-mile pace. This was slower than my normal pace, but I never had run a race of this distance before. Plus, I had heard horror stories…… Continue Reading
Catch the Digmanns in the news
Category Archives: Multiple Sclerosis
My record streak revisited
With all the hype surrounding Brett Favre’s triumphant re-return to the NFL today, the timing seemed right to share this column I wrote for the MS Connection newsletter in 2005. The numbers may be a little dated, but the motivating message from then still pushes me today. I hope it works for you too. I…… Continue Reading
Running with MS, pt. 4
Six days ’til the Crim 8K. Here’s the fourth installment of my essay: Tonight I’ll be on that hill `cause I can’t stop I’ll be on that hill with everything I got Lives on the line where dreams are found and lost I’ll be there on time and I’ll pay the cost From “Darkness on…… Continue Reading
Running with MS, pt. 3
The 8K at the Crim is 12 days away, and here’s the third installment of my essay: “And it’s about now that I always think to myself that there probably are healthy, able-bodied people out there who would kill themselves if they felt as good as I do …” As I…… Continue Reading
He warned me
Seven years ago, Dr. Pasupuleti, my neurologist at the time, reluctantly gave me a prescription for a wheelchair. “When I give my patients this, they almost never walk again,” he told my mom and me. “But doctor,” I said, “I plan on walking for a long time. Don’t worry. It’s just that right now, I’m…… Continue Reading
Running with MS, pt. 2
’Cause in the darkness I hear somebody call my name And when you realize how they tricked you this time And it’s all lies but I’m strung out on the wire In these streets of fire From “Streets of Fire” by Bruce Springsteen I glance down at my feet and I see them striding in…… Continue Reading
Running with MS
As I’m down to less than three weeks before my first 8K race (that’s about five miles to you and me!) at the Crim Festival of Races in Flint, I occasionally ask myself, “And you’re running an 8K why? After all, you do have MS, remember?” I then quickly remind myself, “That’s exactly why I’m doing…… Continue Reading
Goodbye Jim
Wishing things away is not effective. That’s what a fortune cookie once told me. I believe this truism. But knowing this truth didn’t stop me from wishing that the news Jim told me a few months ago wasn’t true. Earlier this summer, Jim gently broke it to me that he and his wife were…… Continue Reading
Thank you, Barbara!
I was pretty humbled when I read this e-mail I received from our friend (and Dan’s coworker) Barbara. She wrote: I’ve already made Dan listen to my recap, so now I’ll tell you: The ride was great! We had a rain delay Saturday morning, so it was a long day of…… Continue Reading
Being our own best advocates–at the State Capitol
I desperately dropped to my knees in the silent hallway of the House Office Building in Lansing and told Jennifer to grab me the pen from her purse. There were no tables readily available to write on, so the floor would have to do. I had to jot a quick note to our State Representative Bill…… Continue Reading