Columns

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…

A few months ago I had a conversation with someone who told me he was recently released from the hospital after having triple bypass surgery. I mentioned that my mom had a heart valve replacement a few years before she passed. I also told him about my…

With 92 degrees forecast, I headed out for a walk Thursday morning to beat the heat. Within minutes, I had to quit because of a sarcoidosis-related condition that required stubbornness to get diagnosed. Trudging home, fearing I would faint, I recalled the physician who told me, “Not everything is sarcoidosis,”…

I accomplished a few things that I’m proud of this past week. I finally finished one of my online nutrition courses, and I finally got my ice cream cake. The biggest and most important accomplishment is that I celebrated my 56th birthday. As the days quickly approached I…

My Fourth of July celebrations always include barbecue, but not this year. I made the leap to a vegetarian diet on May 23. I’m already seeing benefits from the move, which has given me the willpower to remain meat-free. It was tested on the most popular holiday…

With stifling June heat and pollen cleared by rainfall, I opened my windows. Drivers finished their workdays and inched forward in traffic outside my home. Within minutes, gentle breezes carried exhaust fumes inside. I thought that by living two stories up I would escape car pollution, a common…