A majority of rare disease patients using telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic thought the experience positive, and many would like the option of continuing its use in future appointments, a series of surveys found. The surveys were conducted by the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) and involved more than 800…

A best friend from high school occasionally stops by to let my wife and me know what’s going on in her life and to check on my health. We all sit on my porch — socially distanced, of course — with cocktails in hand while we’d…

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…

My wife, my son, and I moved into our house in August 1996. The house initially belonged to my aunt, who lived there since 1982, the year my wife and I graduated from high school. When my aunt and uncle went on trips, I was…

After being diagnosed with pulmonary sarcoidosis, I became a pro at protecting my lungs. Or so I thought. Even now, 18 years later, I’m still discovering threats I had overlooked. October is “Healthy Lung Month” in the U.S. Leaving my pulmonologist’s office all those years ago, I thought I…

I went to bed in the fourth quarter of “Monday Night Football” with my brother Antony’s words haunting me. My favorite team was losing, and I knew what he’d say about abandoning them for sleep: “There’s a lot of game left.” Antony believes in comebacks, and so do I,…

People are always surprised to hear that I travel from Pennsylvania to Ohio for medical appointments. Whether it’s an hour-long flight or a seven-hour trip by car, they think it sounds like an inconvenience. But after months of seeing local physicians, I’ve come to appreciate how much easier my out-of-state…

People with sarcoidosis who have impaired lung function seem to be at greater risk for severe COVID-19 disease, a new study suggests. The study, “Moderate or Severe Impairment in Pulmonary Function is Associated with Mortality in Sarcoidosis Patients Infected with SARS‑CoV‑2,” was published in the journal …

Day is breaking and my uncertainty unfolds. If I’m lucky, I’ll silence it with a productive morning. If I struggle, the doubts echoing in my mind grow louder. Sarcoidosis batters my self-confidence. It’s an ongoing tug of war between my goals and symptoms. It begins every morning, convincing a body…

When my family was caring for me, they got to witness my many endeavors at self-improvement. So, they won’t be surprised to hear I’m tweaking my life again during a September campaign dedicated to that. I wasn’t aware of National Self-Improvement Month when I was trying to escape the helplessness…