Columns

There are days when having a chronic illness feels like too much to handle. Days when the physical symptoms and discomfort make it seem as though my own body isn’t connected to me, and the emotional toll is too much to bear. On these…

At the end of June, I was honored to photograph the Pulmonary Hypertension Association 2018 International PH Conference and Scientific Sessions in Orlando, Florida. This was the ninth PH Conference I’ve attended, but the first without my idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension. On…

My social life, based solely on my pictures online, may seem somewhat average for a 20-something-year-old. On my social accounts, you can find pictures of my friends and me; photos from the beach or of fancy drinks, and selfies from long car rides. What people don’t…

Chronic low oxygen levels, sleep-related breathing disorders, lack of proper circulation, and gas exchange impairment are all factors that have contributed to the neurological consequences that have been more prominent in my life recently. Pulmonary hypertension affects more than…

A heart-lung transplant cured my pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and changed the way I interact with my environment. It affected the activities I perform in every room in my house. Knowing I can get caught up in my own routine, I often…

I’ve been living with depression nearly my entire life. I remember starting to struggle with overwhelming feelings of sadness and fear around the age of 5. My symptoms started to escalate as I became a teenager, but by this time, I had learned how to hide my…

Growing up with congenital heart disease, I was always advised against overexposure to the hot weather and warned about the effects of staying in the sun for too long. Despite the warning, summer was always my favorite time of year. I never thought…

Third in a series. Read part one and part two. As I wrote last week, transplant is the only treatment for end-stage pulmonary hypertension (PH). You don’t have end-stage PH? I am so glad. No transplant for you. But if…

“Focus on breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth.” ER doctors told me this as I tried slowing my heart rate down after feeling palpitations following my numerous breathing treatments. My heart rate eventually went down with the help…

Second in a series. Read part one. I’ll be the first to admit that I did not want a transplant. Even when I was dying, I didn’t want a transplant. I was scared. But I was dying, and I was 23 years old.

“What goes up must come down.” When thinking about pulmonary hypertension and chronic illness, this saying holds so much truth. It is disheartening to come to terms with the fact that although there are good days when I can manage my illness, there…

First in a series.  Lung transplantation has an image problem. People often refer to transplant as the “last resort” or a “backup plan,” terms that connote failure. I’m no public relations guru, but I’m pretty well-versed in the success that’s possible with a…