Since beginning my Spinraza journey over two years ago, I have been exposed to some pretty high-level scientific stuff. The Principles of Motor Neurons. Genetic Sequencing. Genetic Manipulation. And a whole bunch of really smart people geeking-out on how to turn cripply SMA people like me into X-Men.

People often ask me what it’s like, during this stage of my life, to describe what Spinraza has meant to me. What it has done for me. Most of the SMA patients out in the world are adolescents, children. Many are babies. After all, only a small portion of those with SMA make it into adulthood. So, those of us that are adults can give a perspective that children simply aren’t able to do. We have more life experience, and frankly, we’ve got the big-adult vocabulary to articulate what this is really like. We’ve got detailed analyses with really large words. SAT words. Oxford Dictionary words.

So, do you want to know what it’s really like?

You know the classic H.G. Wells novel, The Time Machine? The story that popularized the concept of time travel and launched an entire genre of science fiction? When Wells first published the book in 1895, it sparked the imagination of millions. Over a century later, the concept of time travel is still intoxicating.

Everyone (including you!) probably has a secret idea of what they’d do if they had the opportunity to travel in time. While most would do something selfish, like get winning numbers from a future Powerball drawing, some folks would do something more altruistic. Something that would benefit mankind… like killing Adolf Hitler or castrating Harvey Weinstein.

But, all these scenarios are fictional. Because time travel is impossible. Right?

Well it is… Unless you’re me.

If you really want to know what the Spinraza process has felt like to me— what is has meant to me— this is the way I describe it.

I am now a time traveler.

A time traveler that is revisiting a part of her life that she thought was gone forever.

Spinal Muscular Atrophy has always been a progressive condition. I was stronger at 5 than I was at 15. At 15, I was considerably stronger than I was at 35. And, by 55, there was a good chance that I would be dead.

But, with Spinraza, a crazy thing happened. The mad scientists at Stanford thrust me into their Interventional Radiology room— injected some liquid into my spinal fluid… and turned back time.

I began to live in own past. I could do things that I hadn’t been able to do in years. I was living in the past. Just like H.G. Wells wrote about 124 years ago. And, just like the novel, it’s been a wild, and frankly exhausting, ride.

It’s important to note that time travel isn’t free— and Spinraza is one of the most expensive drugs in the world. So, to continue to qualify, I must undergo thorough physical and respiratory evaluations every few months to measure my progress.

Given there aren’t many adults like me receiving the treatment, the data gained from our experiences is especially valuable. These measures and outcomes will hopefully offer the evidence needed to expand Spinraza access here in the US, and around the world. I want more time travelers with SMA. But, to do that, we’ve got to illustrate the benefits with cold, hard data.

No matter how you slice it, though, this added pressure is intense. While I’m constantly told not to be anxious about it— to simply do my best— I do worry about it. I fret about the messages I get from people with SMA around the world longing for treatment. I fear they won’t get to travel back to their past.

I feel guilty that I do.

Not all of us long to do something bold with a time machine. We don’t all want to be heroes that shoot Nazis. Some of us just want to travel to a time where we could talk a little louder… laugh a little harder… and pick our own boogers.

A few days ago, I had yet another full day of these assessments. It’s a day that I truly dread. Each time. It’s long, exhausting, and I usually always have at least one moment when I long to scream or curl into a corner and cry.

I care so much about these tests that it’s almost all-consuming. I do frequent physical therapy in preparation. I have even sought support from a counselor to work through the emotional challenges of this arduous process. These assessment exams are often all I can think about. Literally. All. I. Can. Think. About.

It’s like how Donald Trump must feel about Twitter.

I came into this assessment day— judgment day, frankly— feeling unsure. Feeling like perhaps I had plateaued. That I hadn’t noticed a change from the last time. I was resigned to this idea. I accepted it. It was okay (and expected) to have a plateau because SMA, by nature, is progressive. Stabilization is a win, too. Stabilization means more time available in the time machine.

But, I had a surprise. My respiratory measures showed additional small gains. My physical assessment was the most solid— yet.

The time machine was still working.

While I made it through this judgment day, in six months, I will have to do it all again. And again… and again. Because, in some way, time still manages to march on.

But, I’ll be waiting for it.

“Looking at these stars suddenly dwarfed my own troubles and all the gravities of terrestrial life. I thought of their unfathomable distance, and the slow inevitable drift of their movements out of the unknown past into the unknown future.”

— H.G. Wells, The Time Machine