ALS -To the moon and back
Welcome to To the Moon and Back. I’m Lisa Wright, and with me is Portia Turbo — iconic Sydney drag queen, trivia queen, perfume oracle, and a bestie of almost 15 years. We met at one of her infamous trivia nights and have spent years wandering art galleries, laughing ourselves silly, and navigating life’s unexpected twists together.
In this first episode, we talk honestly about friendship, joy, and my recent diagnosis of ALS — and what it means to face something big with humour, love, and the people who hold you up.
ALS -To the moon and back
ALS - To The Moon and Back - Episode 4
ALS to the Moon and Back — Podcast Intro
Recording’s in progress… and before we get into anything remotely sensible, Portia Turbo is over here singing “We wish you a Merry Christmas” and casually wishing everyone a “happy new gonorrhea”, which feels… on brand.
I’m Lisa Wright — I live out at Mount Murray Farm in the Southern Highlands, I’ve got dogs that refuse to let anyone have a serious conversation uninterrupted, and I’ve recently found myself living in a world I never planned to be in: ALS.
This podcast is us — me and Portia — having the conversations you don’t always get to hear. The ones that bounce from art and travel stories (Starry Night, Kandinsky, the Guggenheim, snow falling over Central Park… honestly, goosebumps) to the big stuff: grief, rage, bodies, systems, and what it’s like to suddenly have your life shaped by timelines you didn’t ask for.
In this episode, we eventually stop waffling (no promises) and get into edavarone — or “a daravone”, depending on who’s reading the label — the infusion treatment I’m doing now. It’s a high-dose antioxidant, and the timing matters: 10 infusions in a 14-day window, then time off, then you do it again. It’s a bit of a logistical circus — early mornings, energy management, and the reality that ALS doesn’t make you “tired” in the normal way… it just makes resting feel very seductive.
We also go wandering into the “juju” side of things — what trauma does to a body, what happens when you swallow your anger for decades, and how the nervous system flips into “rest and digest” when you finally learn how to properly drop into stillness. There’s a bit of dark humour (because otherwise… how?) and a bit of tenderness, and the occasional dog cameo.
So if you’re here for real talk, big laughs in inappropriate places, and the honest mess of figuring out how to live well inside something hard — welcome.
This is ALS to the Moon and Back.
And if you’re enjoying it (and you’re not a one-star mongrel), please chuck us a five-star review. 💛
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Take care of yourselves — and each other — and we’ll see you next episode.