Columns

Sensory overload! I’ve already completed my 15 days of self-quarantine and I’m ready to get out. Actually, I have been out a few times just to the grocery store and then back home. My family has been quarantined with me, with the exception…

It’s difficult not to feel at least a little blue in the midst of this coronavirus pandemic. I bet even the most positive people are feeling the effects of this life upheaval. For those of us with rare diseases and compromised immune systems, it can be especially frightening. Since…

I’ve noticed that when doctors pitch something that will be good for my health, what usually follows is something I don’t like much. The reason is that achieving that goodness usually comes with some drawbacks. Taking another medication. Giving up foods I like. Sweating it out at the gym.

National Sarcoidosis Awareness Month begins on April 1 without the fanfare of years past.  We can’t participate in walks. We can’t gather for events and fundraisers. And news cycles are focused on the global pandemic of a virus that attacks the lungs, not a rare disease that infiltrates…

Social distancing is the new norm. It reminds me of the two months I spent in the hospital after my first spontaneous pneumothorax. While hooked up to chest tubes and oxygen, I was pretty much sheltered in place. In the beginning…

I read a magazine article years ago shortly after my sarcoidosis diagnosis. It covered the topic of the “shoulds” in life. The article defined a “should” as an item such as good health, the ability to work a full-time job, having strong and supportive relationships, and being able…

After all of my efforts to remain germ-free I was reminded of a couple things this past week. The first is that hand soap and sanitizer don’t make me invincible. The second is that being homebound so much over the years while battling sarcoidosis  has given me a “particular…

This has been a rough week, to say the least. Last week, I lost one of my oldest aunts. She was my mother’s oldest sister and she meant a lot to me. She lived in Washington, D.C., and she let me live with her when I took a…

More than 90 percent of people with sarcoidosis have lung involvement, which makes it hard for me not to worry about the recent coronavirus outbreak. Last week, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 a global pandemic. We are being bombarded daily with…

Take a minute to think about what’s really important in your life. I find myself doing that more often than I used to. I often think about the things that mean the most to me like family, health, physical abilities, and friendships, but…