No Tears for Sarcoidosis - a Column by Charlton Harris

Discipline is a trait that takes determination to mature into an art. By nature, we’re not disciplined creatures. This makes our life’s journey more eventful, especially living with sarcoidosis. When I entered this fight, I didn’t know what I would be up…

Over the past few weeks, I had appointments with both of my pulmonologists involving follow-up consults and pulmonary function tests (PFTs). My new pulmonologist specializes in sarcoidosis and pulmonary hypertension, making…

A chronic health condition like pulmonary sarcoidosis can have a mental stranglehold on a person, causing fear, anxiety, and stress that we must learn to live with. Such a stranglehold can hold you hostage both mentally and physically.

This weekend I’ll be celebrating an anniversary. Actually, it’s more like a milestone. Although it seems peculiar to celebrate it, I’m doing so with plans to become a better person. This weekend marks the third anniversary of my first spontaneous pneumothorax…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Father’s Day was always a good time for my family when I was growing up. My brother and I were raised by a single mother, but my maternal grandfather and uncle were role models. We come from a large family, so we always had my…

Recently, I thought about my past hospitalizations and how isolated I felt. I guess the events over the past three months with social distancing had me feeling isolated … again. I thought about the two months I spent in the lung center at one of our hospitals in…