No Tears for Sarcoidosis - a Column by Charlton Harris

You are where you’re supposed to be — for now. Over the past three years, I’ve been dealing with the effects of pulmonary sarcoidosis. Having suffered multiple spontaneous pneumothoraces over a two-year period, I often wonder…

I once heard an old man say that “a changed mind is a dangerous thing.” In the summer of 2017, I spent two months in the hospital due to spontaneous pneumothorax. My lungs are in pretty bad shape because…

Every day is a new adventure, and this pandemic certainly has been challenging. Every morning, I give thanks for seeing another day. I ask to become a better person than I was the previous day. I also give thanks for my family, and believe it or…

This has been one of my most difficult weeks in many years! For four weeks I’ve self-quarantined due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Like many others, my family and I continue adjusting while evaluating everything important to our lives. Everything seemed to…

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…

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…

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…

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…

My daughter always reminds me that I’m just “Dad.” At 20 years old, she believes she knows the ways of the world. No matter what advice she asks for, she always does the opposite of what I suggest and wonders why things don’t work out…

Pulmonary sarcoidosis is a sneaky character. Last week, I wasn’t feeling like myself. I was more out of breath than usual. I felt weak and could tell something wasn’t right with me. I had my son take me to the hospital, where I was admitted…