Invisible Chaos - a Column by Athena Merritt

If your holiday shopping is done, indulge in some goodies and rejoice. Hopefully, I’ll be joining you soon. After that, a year-end health checklist awaits. Many with sarcoidosis require ongoing treatment. When multiple physicians are involved, remembering everything that was prescribed is difficult. One last review before 2021 arrives could…

It usually takes me six months or longer to land an appointment with my neurologist. In October, I met virtually with him just a week after calling to schedule one. It was the same with other specialists: little to no wait time. But while this change benefits me, it may…

We’re 13 days from the start of winter. Try telling that to my body, which already has fallen into a seasonal slump.  My knees quit first. After seeing them get away with it, my other joints and muscles followed with a “why bother” attitude. So, my mental warfare to…

I used to stubbornly hang on to old ways of doing things. Sarcoidosis cured me of that. It’s why I wasn’t among the millions of Americans traveling for Thanksgiving. I won’t be at Christmas, either.  With COVID-19 cases spiking, forgoing get-togethers continues to be my new way of…

If you have reviewed your Medicare coverage options for 2021, pat yourself on the back. Annually, 57% don’t bother, according to recent analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF). If you’re among those that skip Medicare’s annual open enrollment, there are some good reasons not to ignore this round.

Right around this time last year, I was cobbling together homemade chicken soup to get rid of a cold. My victory was short-lived, because a second wave struck a week later.  That’s long been my M.O. — battling an endless series of colds, viruses, and sinus infections.

Last week, voters successfully nudged a handful of states into expanding opportunities to buy marijuana legally. But there are a few things you should know before leaping into medical marijuana. I was excited when my home state of Pennsylvania finally opened the door to medicinal uses two years ago.

You may or may not be a sports fan. But today’s NFL trade deadline is a useful reminder to us all that some employers will stick by you through good and bad, while others will ditch you given the opportunity.  By 4 p.m., a host of players will…

With Halloween just days away, I’ve been thinking about fear. Not the holding-your-breath, muscle-clenching, waiting-for-horrors to unfold type. But rather the run-of-the-mill scares we’ve pushed down so deep we’ve forgotten they’re even there.  The idea that I’m avoiding fear has been flitting through my mind for months. It became…

Bad habits usually sneak up on me. I glide along thinking I’m in control until I get hit with the realization that I’m not. That moment arrived for me on a recent morning when I decided to skip the news.  It shouldn’t have been a big deal. But eating…