It may be odd to loathe an inanimate object, but I do. I didn’t always. The first newsroom I entered was filled with cubicles with majestic walls. Appointed a seat, elbow-to-elbow with my editor, I longed for that prime real estate. After landing it, chatty offices became a trend and…

With 8 a.m. closing in on a weekday, diners had already filled tables set up in a parking lot on a recent crisp morning. Just a five-minute walk away, chairs remained upside down at an eatery that hasn’t served meals since mid-March. The pandemic has forced both restaurants to a…

In May, I read about a poll of 2,000 Americans who reported using excuses an average of six times per day. At the time, I thought it was crazy that each person racked up 2,190 justifications per year not to do things. On a weekly basis, there was…

If your supermarket routine is like mine, you zip in and out of stores without doing a lot of leisurely reading. So, you probably hadn’t noticed that the Nutrition Facts label on packaged foods has changed. Yep, back in January. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration even launched a…

I used to enjoy grocery shopping. The retail circulars that hit my mailbox on Fridays meant a crack at new deals. Since COVID-19 arrived, supermarkets have become my least favorite essential place to go. The weekly ads now serve as a risk vs. benefit analysis of which stores I want…

When I was fired years ago while battling sarcoidosis on unpaid sick leave, I was blindsided. The termination letter reached me at the end of the month, at the same time that my health benefits were stopped. I ended up in a similar situation as the estimated 5.4 million workers…

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…

Sarcoidosis involves the lungs in most cases, so you may head to a pulmonologist and consider your care handled. I did, but it was only the beginning of sitting on the crinkly, white paper of examining room tables looking for answers. The first lesson I learned was that relying on…

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…

People with sarcoidosis-associated pulmonary hypertension who have reduced physical fitness or worse gas exchange capacity live significantly shorter times without requiring a transplant, a new study indicates. The study, “Physiological Predictors of Survival in Patients with Sarcoidosis Associated Pulmonary Hypertension,” was published in the European Respiratory…