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I had not heard of an infrared sauna before a practitioner told me about the device. Early in the process of diagnosing my sarcoidosis, it was suggested as a way to help manage joint pain. Luckily, my primary care physician (PCP) has an infrared sauna in his office. For…

Last month, I decided to take a break from Twitter. It is the only social media site I use, despite the grumblings of Facebook-obsessed family and friends. My only regret is not doing it sooner. Ditching Twitter wasn’t as hard as I expected. When I told my 20-year-old niece about…

In all things, give thanks. I heard this saying regularly while growing up. My mother told my brother and me that we should be thankful for every life experience. I’m not sure if we were supposed to be grateful for overcoming our obstacles or expected to…

It was what I least felt like doing that Saturday morning: learning something new and being among a group of people. But the friend who urged me to attend a mixed media collage art class at the local library must have sensed it was exactly what I needed. Since…

Weeks after getting a script for what I hoped would be a cheaper alternative to Restasis (cyclosporine emulsion), I was reminded of why so many prescription medications are unaffordable. Three pharmaceutical companies recently agreed to pay California nearly $70 million to settle allegations that they paid to delay…

All too often, life gets in the way of living. That makes it hard to stick with your life’s plan. Like most people, I had a plan for my future. Growing up, I always knew I wanted to be in a creative field. As early as…

Before sarcoidosis hit me, I was a Pilates enthusiast and practiced yoga, too. Between classes and my practice at home, I stayed rather active with these two forms of exercise. However, like so much in life, the ability to stay active drastically changed after my diagnosis. But then an…

Twice in the past month, a charley horse in my right calf has ripped me from blissful sleep. Even though prednisone wasn’t to blame for the agonizing 4 a.m. wake-up calls, it’s the first thing I thought about while lying in bed, writhing in pain. I’ve lost count of…

Recently, I received a phone call from my former brother-in-law. He suggested that I come out to his house for a few days of rest and relaxation. He checks on me daily since I had my first spontaneous pneumothorax in August 2017. I…

I have an extreme aversion to needles. When I was much younger and needed to have blood drawn, I would pass out during the process. This happened every time, without fail, regardless of how we tried to prevent it. When my primary care physician, who is also a pulmonologist in…