Invisible Chaos - a Column by Athena Merritt

As a teen, I got a T-shirt from my best friend that said “Me, paranoid? Who wants to know?” So, you see, trusting maskless strangers to be fully vaccinated just isn’t in my nature.  We are still in a pandemic. With sarcoidosis, two shots in the arm doesn’t mean we…

My memory is terrible. But I can vividly recall hovering over a rib-eye steak in a restaurant last February telling a lie. It only took a forkful for it to slide out. And a few more bites to convince myself it would forever be true. I said I would never…

Seeing actor Will Smith post that he was in the worst shape of his life made me smile. Because grinning in short shorts with his paunch on display, he shamelessly owned something I’ve often felt.   Getting and staying fit is tough. Sarcoidosis and other chronic illnesses don’t…

I miss the days when a sneeze was nothing to worry about. Especially after I encountered a stranger who was not wearing a mask and spraying the air. I veered to get out of his path, and he moved — intent, it seemed, to stay in mine. I walked faster,…

With views of trees from every window, pollution never crossed my mind when I signed my current lease. Which is how I ended up in an area with unhealthy air. If you live in the U.S., there’s a good chance you’re in one, too. The American Lung Association released its…

I’ve often felt like I’m just along for the ride when it comes to sarcoidosis. I’d wake up wondering what it would let me do. But a change I made in late February has given me a new outlook. It happened by accident. Maybe you read my glorious account…

Eyelids fluttering open to a new day, I mentally searched my body for signs that anything was different. But a sore arm with a Band-Aid was the only evidence of my vaccination 12 hours earlier.  No headache, fever, chills, or any more fatigue than usual, which I was informed…

I stumbled upon sarcoidosis in 2002, and still wake each morning wondering what’s in store. It doesn’t follow a set path when it invades our bodies, making it just as baffling today as when I was first diagnosed. If I had named this disease, I would have called it “everything…

Since the novel coronavirus emerged, what’s increasingly struck me are the eerie similarities between COVID-19 and sarcoidosis. The deeper we’ve gotten into this pandemic, the more I wonder if it might provide new clues for treating the sarcoidosis population. Much like our illness, COVID-19 can come and go without some…

I was in my 40s when I entered a neighborhood gym for the first time. I slunk over to the least-crowded row of treadmills, and still couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. Until then, my huffing and puffing had been done in private. But after my treadmill died, my…