About this site

Mike Cortes writes about living with multiple sclerosis — not as a medical authority, but as someone learning in real time what it means to adapt when the nervous system changes the rules.

This site is a collection of field notes from that process.

Some posts begin in hospitals or MRI tubes. Others start in the gym, on a running trail, or in ordinary moments where something small suddenly stops working the way it used to. The thread connecting them is curiosity: noticing what changes, experimenting with how to respond, and recording what happens next.

The writing isn’t meant to be motivational or instructive. It’s an attempt to observe carefully while the body rewrites itself — and to stay engaged with performance, uncertainty, and the strange mechanics of being human.

If you subscribe, you’ll receive new essays when they’re published.

Access the archives

Every post on this site lives here in one place.

Some are written right after something happens. Others arrive weeks later, once the dust settles and I understand the moment a little better.

Subscribing simply means you’ll have access to the full archive as it grows.

New content, delivered occasionally

When a new essay is published, subscribers receive it by email.

There’s no schedule and no algorithm to feed. Posts appear when something worth writing about happens—whether that’s an MRI appointment, a strange neurological symptom, a training day that goes sideways, or a moment where the body remembers how to cooperate again.

People who are paying attention

Most readers arrive here because something about uncertainty feels familiar.

Some live with MS.

Some live with other chronic conditions.

Some are simply curious about how people adapt when their systems stop behaving the way they once did.

Wherever you’re coming from, you’re welcome here.