If you were fixin’ to connect with pulmonary hypertension (PH) patients in June, you would’ve found a whole contingent of us camped out in Dallas. The PH community took the Lone Star State by storm for the Pulmonary Hypertension Association’s biennial International PH Conference and Scientific Sessions. Alongside…
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At the Pulmonary Hypertension Association’s (PHA) biannual conference, it is easy to feel like you should be able to do more. There are sessions to attend, people to meet, dinners to join, and late-night moments you don’t want to miss. There is a kind of magic in being surrounded by…
In a recent column, I shared something I’d been too stubborn to say before: Pushing through fatigue with pulmonary hypertension (PH) almost always costs me more than it gives. The harder I push, the harder I crash. After that column, several readers reached out to say they sometimes…
I lived in a rural area at the time I was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension (PH). I didn’t meet another PH patient for nearly a year, and even then, we didn’t get to chat because we were both bouncing from one appointment to another. That distance can make an…
I live with both idiopathic pulmonary hypertension (PH) and scleroderma, and earlier this month, I was taught a lesson in how quickly things can unravel when you’re with people who are well-versed in one condition while you’re dealing with symptoms of the other. I traveled to Washington, D.C., to…
Tomorrow, a surgery is taking place, but for once, I won’t be the person counting back from 10 as they’re put to sleep. Instead, it’s my mother who will be undergoing a minor procedure. Fortunately, it’s low risk, but we’ve still had a lot to consider regarding her recovery, which…
Living with a rare disease like pulmonary hypertension (PH) brings sudden, overwhelming changes. If you or a loved one recently received a diagnosis, you likely know the intense emotional weight that follows. Fear, stress, and anxiety frequently accompany the physical symptoms in those early days. Because May…
Recent news from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics confirmed what many of us have likely felt while grocery shopping — prices are going up. The Consumer Price Index rose 3.8% year-over-year in April, and is higher than the 3.3% measurement in March. As inflation continues to climb,…
I was recently in a pediatrician’s office when I noticed a sticker for Camp Bon Coeur, or “Camp Good Heart.” The camp is in my home state of Louisiana and serves children with heart conditions. It made me think about children with pulmonary hypertension (PH) who can benefit from…
When I was 12, an infection related to my central line landed me in the hospital. I was being treated at a large teaching center and clearly remember waking up one day to find more than 10 people in the room staring at me and discussing my case. This was…
You wake up exhausted. A long night of chest pains and other pulmonary hypertension (PH) symptoms meant you barely got any sleep. Work and daily tasks take monumental effort, or they just don’t happen at all. By the afternoon, frustration sets in. You feel behind and worry about what…
Audiences are flocking to movie theaters this spring to see “Project Hail Mary.” Readers, myself included, gobbled up Taylor Jenkins Reid’s latest novel, “Atmosphere” — a tale of astronauts in love. People were glued to their televisions as NASA launched the Artemis II mission into space. Traveling to…
