When I was younger, the holiday season was all about happiness and excitement. But each year, as I got older, it seemed as if the “magic” of the holiday season started to fade. For those with a chronic illness such as pulmonary hypertension…
Recharged and Rewired - a Column by Brittany Foster
“Hopefully we won’t see you back here any time soon!” “Let’s hope not!” This was the conversation between my nurse and me as I walked out of the hospital after a nine-day stay. The nurse and hospital staff saw me walking…
Some days, I feel well enough to make the most out of each day. On these days, I find the energy to clean the house, make food, do laundry, get shopping done, and work a part-time job as a nanny. Although all of this…
One of the most challenging realities I face with chronic lung disease is that my only option to feel better is to continue with treatments. There is no cure to make it all go away. Instead, I must choose to say “yes” to treatments, taking medications,…
People say that bad things happen in threes. I think that saying is a bunch of baloney. Lately, it has felt like bad things are flooding my life. Some days I ask myself, “What else can go wrong?” The universe takes that as a challenge:…
“When we’re headed toward an outcome that’s too horrible to face, that’s when we go looking for a second opinion. Sometimes, the answer we get just confirms our worst fears. But sometimes, it can shed new light on a problem. Make you…
According to the National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts, “National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) is a national campaign held in October that raises awareness about employment issues for disabled people, and celebrates the many and varied contributions of America’s workers…
I previously defined myself by the things that consumed the majority of my time. In high school, I was a student-athlete. I used most of my energy for ice hockey and the rest for studying. In college, I spent most of my time in classes or…
Last week, I was discharged from the hospital four days after surgery. During my stay, my body had gone through a trauma. I was operated on, intubated, and mechanically ventilated. I was managing pain that felt beyond my control. I was sleep-deprived, medicated, and not in…
“What is wrong with me? Why does this still hurt so much?” I asked myself this as tears flowed down my face while looking at a friend’s maternity photo shoot that popped up on social media. While staring at pictures of a perfect baby…
“Live in the moment.” This saying is such a cliché in the chronic illness realm, yet I force myself to reply with some version of this daily when I am asked how I’m doing. My response usually is something along the lines of,…
A large part of pulmonary hypertension management is taking the necessary medications to help ease symptoms and delay progression. Because pulmonary hypertension impacts more than just the lungs, many with this disease have a list of at least a dozen different medications to treat various…
