I was diagnosed with a
degenerative nerve disease.
I used to serve as the National Director of the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, headquartered at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. For many years, I worked with returning service members who suffered blast brain injuries in Afghanistan and Iraq.
As a Board-Certified Neurologist and Psychiatrist, my medical training taught me how to approach these conditions clinically. And while I certainly understood that injury, illness, and disability change people’s lives, I knew it professionally and not necessarily personally.
I made this website to share my journey and what I’ve learned along the way. But I’m not here to give medical advice or tell you what to do. Instead, it’s my hope that my story might touch and inspire you as you live into your own answers. Whether you are a medical student, a caregiver, or have a diagnosis that’s changed your life, I made this for you. And if you found your way here while you’re healthy and in the thick of life, who knows? Maybe there is a message here for you, too.
Watch my story here:
Winner:
2019 American Academy of Neurology Annual Film Festival 2019
Screened at:
Second International PLS Conference 2019, Philadelphia, PA, convened by Hiroshi Mitsumoto, MD, PhD
Here is a twenty-minute documentary film with a bit more about my perspective and my story.
Thank you for taking the time to watch my story and maybe even pass it along to someone you care about who might appreciate it, too. After you’ve watched the video, if you’d like to leave a message, you can do so below.
Moved to share your thoughts?
Wonderful – I’d love to hear what sparked for you as you watched the documentary about my story. Please know that I read every single message personally but may not be able to respond to you directly. Nonetheless, it means a lot to me that you are taking the time to share your thoughts. Thank you.
Good news – you’re alive!
After I was diagnosed with a degenerative illness, it took a while to wrap my head around what it meant. At first, I looked for treatments. But in my particular situation, there really aren’t any treatments. (There are treatments for the symptoms, but not for the illness.). Nor is there anything for me to fight, as my own nerve cells were giving out.
My illness changed the course of my life. And as it progressed, I retired and began to contemplate my future. As I did this, time slowed down and my senses became attuned to different things, like looking out a window I’d looked out hundreds of times, and for the first time really seeing the beauty of the tree in our front yard. I became a yoga instructor and began teaching water yoga. It was inside this slowness that I began to experience being alive in a different way…with a wonder, an appreciation, and a sweetness that was new.
Let’s be real – It’s not all bliss, jokes, and yoga classes for me. I still feel down sometimes. But alongside conventional medical treatments and physical accommodations, I’ve come to draw on practices and traditions that sustain and balance me. They also remind me of the mystery and the miracle of being alive, especially when none of us really knows how long that might last.
Whether we have an illness or not, the fullness of life is ours to enjoy.
Experiences at a Glance
Speaking
Dr. Warden completed medical school at the University of Pittsburgh and a combined neurology and psychiatry residency at the University of Rochester (Rochester, NY) and Georgetown University. She is Board Certified in both Neurology and Psychiatry. She was Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry at the Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, Maryland, and National Director of the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center at Walter Reed when she retired due to PLS.
About Deborah
Neurologist & Psychiatrist
Deborah developed a mysterious neurologic illness while working with military blast TBI patients.
Yogini
As a means to help with Deborah's mobility, she started to take water yoga classes and ended up becoming a water yoga instructor.
Author
After years of writing scientific papers, Deborah is writing a book for people living with a chronic illness, or life-changing event, or another challenge.
What I’ve learned along the way
After The Fall
My book is almost finished!
Anyone with a life-changing event
I’m writing this book for anyone with a life-changing event, be it PLS (my illness), some other chronic illness, or a different challenge that life confronts you with.
My life transition
The transition from mid-career neurologist working in TBI during the Afghanistan and Iraqi wars to a neurology patient with unpredictable muscle spasms and electric current sensations soon affecting my walking and speaking was clearly unplanned! Confronted with the possibility of ALS and greatly shortened life span prognosis, I needed to reorganize to make each day full and meaningful. I embarked on a journey of many healing modalities to contribute to my well-being.
Interactions with many
As I wrote the book, many stories of interacting with others through my obviously disabled body spilled out, many humorous. Stories that offered other disabled people a perspective on this and offered “neuro-typical” people a chance to reflect.
Out of my comfort zone
My journey took me out of my comfort zone and hurled me into uncertainty with a multitude of medical tests to understand better what was happening to my nervous system. Even being a neurologist didn’t prepare me for this. I offer observations as a neurologist and insights as a patient in my 20+ year journey with this rare, but manageable illness.
I’m writing a book with my story – if you’d like to read it, please subscribe to my mailing list below, and I’ll be sure to let you know when it’s done.