Over the past few weeks, I had appointments with both of my pulmonologists involving follow-up consults and pulmonary function tests (PFTs). My new pulmonologist specializes in sarcoidosis and pulmonary hypertension, making…
In May, I read about a poll of 2,000 Americans who reported using excuses an average of six times per day. At the time, I thought it was crazy that each person racked up 2,190 justifications per year not to do things. On a weekly basis, there was…
A chronic health condition like pulmonary sarcoidosis can have a mental stranglehold on a person, causing fear, anxiety, and stress that we must learn to live with. Such a stranglehold can hold you hostage both mentally and physically.
If your supermarket routine is like mine, you zip in and out of stores without doing a lot of leisurely reading. So, you probably hadn’t noticed that the Nutrition Facts label on packaged foods has changed. Yep, back in January. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration even launched a…
This weekend I’ll be celebrating an anniversary. Actually, it’s more like a milestone. Although it seems peculiar to celebrate it, I’m doing so with plans to become a better person. This weekend marks the third anniversary of my first spontaneous pneumothorax…
I used to enjoy grocery shopping. The retail circulars that hit my mailbox on Fridays meant a crack at new deals. Since COVID-19 arrived, supermarkets have become my least favorite essential place to go. The weekly ads now serve as a risk vs. benefit analysis of which stores I want…
Two years ago this week, I was in the hospital suffering from crepitus. I didn’t immediately know how serious the condition was, but it soon caused me to be intubated in the hospital’s ICU. The same hospital…
When I was fired years ago while battling sarcoidosis on unpaid sick leave, I was blindsided. The termination letter reached me at the end of the month, at the same time that my health benefits were stopped. I ended up in a similar situation as the estimated 5.4 million workers…
This week, my wife and I will be celebrating our 22nd wedding anniversary. As only a wife can document such an occasion, we’ve been together for 35 years total. Our son asked me how it feels. I told him I’ll let him know when the…
Sarcoidosis involves the lungs in most cases, so you may head to a pulmonologist and consider your care handled. I did, but it was only the beginning of sitting on the crinkly, white paper of examining room tables looking for answers. The first lesson I learned was that relying on…
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