Columns

My obsession with hope began when it was taken away from me nearly four years ago. I was alone in a doctor’s office, watching snow fall through the window. My parents had been taken out of the room to talk privately with my doctor, which I…

“I’m fine,” I said to myself as I pushed through hockey games feeling awful. “I’m fine,” I convinced myself as I put on makeup to hide my tired complexion. “I’m fine,” I repeated as I went out despite having little energy. “I’m…

This podcast series, created and produced by phaware, is being offered as a regular guest feature on Pulmonary Hypertension News to bring the voices and life experiences of PH patients, family members, caregivers, healthcare specialists, and others to our readers. You may listen to the podcast directly, or read it…

One holiday season a few years ago, I was sprinting through the Atlanta airport desperately trying to make a flight home to San Diego. I ran right up to the gate and was one of the last passengers to board the plane. Winded, yes, but I didn’t feel…

This podcast series, created and produced by phaware, is being offered as a regular guest feature on Pulmonary Hypertension News to bring the voices and life experiences of PH patients, family members, caregivers, healthcare specialists, and others to our readers. You may listen to the podcast directly, or read it…

For months, I agonized over how to offer my condolences to people I’d never met for a loss about which I had no details. I imagined different situations. How different it might be for a parent to receive the letter, compared to a child or a…

It might be just allergies. It’s probably just a cold. It might be just a little bug.  For those who don’t battle chronic illness every day, it’s hard to imagine what an acute illness actually…

This podcast series, created and produced by phaware, is being offered as a regular guest feature on Pulmonary Hypertension News to bring the voices and life experiences of PH patients, family members, caregivers, healthcare specialists, and others to our readers. You may listen to the podcast directly, or read it…

At the start of pulmonary rehabilitation, I was asked to write out a goal to work toward throughout the three months of sessions. Without realizing how unrealistic it sounded, I jotted down that I would like to run a 5K race. At this point, I was newly diagnosed…

This podcast series, created and produced by phaware, is being offered as a regular guest feature on Pulmonary Hypertension News to bring the voices and life experiences of PH patients, family members, caregivers, healthcare specialists, and others to our readers. You may listen to the podcast directly, or read it…

I was spending time with a friend, another long-term PH survivor, at a cafe last week, when she picked up a phone call. A few responses in, I gathered she was having the same conversation I’d had immediately after going active on the transplant…

I wasn’t feeling well two weeks ago after completely overdoing it in a heat wave and convincing myself that paddle boating was a good idea. (Spoiler alert: It wasn’t.) Feeling the need to take care of myself, I decided to accept defeat, cancel my plans for…