Thoughts While Surviving Chronic Illness: Ramblings From a Chef Whose Body Constantly Rebels Thoughts While Surviving Chronic Illness is a lived-experience podcast about life with sarcoidosis, heart failure, and the strange realities of long-term ill...

The podcast is now on YouTube

#sarcoidosis #chronicillness

MiniCast: The Day I Danced with a Monarch: A Reminder That Nature Still Wins After a week of rain and gray skies, I stepped outside and found myself face-to-face with a monarch butterfly—a rare, breathtaking sight that reminded me why we let dandelions grow and bees buzz in our yard. Here's why moments like these mean everything when you're living with chronic illness and...

After a week of rain and gray skies, I stepped outside and found a monarch butterfly. A small, breathtaking reminder of why we let dandelions grow and bees buzz. Joy still matters. #sarcoidosis #chronicillness

CAR-T, Autoimmune Disease, and the Strange Hope of a One-Time Treatment A treatment built for cancer is now doing something that sounds almost unreal in autoimmune disease. In this episode, I talk through a story about CAR-T cell therapy, a woman whose body had been attacking her from multiple directions, and the uneasy hope that comes with hearing the words remissio...

CAR-T, built for cancer, is now showing unreal promise in autoimmune disease. In this episode, I reflect on remission, reset, and the fragile hope of recovery in unpredictable bodies. https://bit.ly/4vyenid #sarcoidosis #chronicillness

You Didn’t Deserve This: Sarcoidosis, Shame, and Letting Go of Guilt What happens when chronic illness shows up and your first instinct is to blame yourself? In this episode of Thoughts While Surviving Chronic Illness, Tate reflects on growing up with guilt, being taught to question himself, and how that old wiring followed him into life with sarcoidosis. This is ...

What if chronic illness makes you blame yourself? In this episode, Tate reflects on guilt, shame, faith, and living with sarcoidosis—and why illness is not punishment. https://bit.ly/4tJc3TA #sarcoidosis #chronicillness

Choosing Joy When the World Feels Heavy Life throws enough chaos at those of us living with sarcoidosis, but sometimes the world hands you a moment that hits harder than any flare. I watched one clip on the news that rearranged my perspective in a way I didn’t see coming, and it made me question what we choose to carry—and what we should probably just let go. This one stayed with me, and it might stay with you too.

Choosing Joy When the World Feels Heav

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When Dreams Rub Back: My Massage Therapy Detour, Interrupted—but Not Denied Ever had a dream that hung around like glitter you can’t sweep away? Mine involved massage therapy, a mini-stroke, an upgraded heart, and a stubborn case of sarcoidosis trying to steal the spotlight. Spoiler: despite the plot twists, the story isn’t over…

When Dreams Rub Back: My Massage Therapy Detour, Interrupted—but Not Denied

When the New Pulmonologist Asked About a Lung Transplant, I Already Knew My Answer After insurance forced me to leave the pulmonologist who had known my lungs for twenty years, a brand-new doctor asked a question that hit me like a dropped skillet: had anyone discussed putting me on the transplant list? If you live long enough with sarcoidosis and serious lung disease, transpla...

Insurance made me leave the pulmonologist who knew my lungs for 20 years. Then a new doctor asked if anyone had discussed a transplant. Hearing it and wanting it are not the same. New episode: www.buzzsprout.com/2... #Sarcoidosis #ChronicIllness

So I have been shut down by Meta on Insta, Threads and Facebook for not following community guidelines. My crime? Posting about chronic illness and links to my podcast. Weirdos
#chronicillness #sarcoidosis

When the New Pulmonologist Asked About a Lung Transplant, I Already Knew My Answer Insurance made me leave the pulmonologist who knew my lungs for 20 years. Then a new doctor asked if anyone had discussed a transplant. Hearing it and wanting it are not the same

When the New Pulmonologist Asked About a Lung Transplant, I Already Knew My Answer

Everyday, I think that Handmaid’s Tale is really a documentary

The Strange Math of Chronic Illness: What Sarcoidosis Taught Me About Expectations People sometimes ask how anyone living with sarcoidosis can stay positive day after day. The answer isn’t motivation, inspiration, or some magical personality trait. It’s something quieter… something most people miss entirely.

People ask how someone with sarcoidosis stays positive day after day. It isn’t motivation, inspiration, or some magical personality trait. It’s something quieter, and most people miss it. #sarcoidosis #chronicillness

Untitled Discover the secret to staying positive with sarcoidosis. It's not about grand gestures, but about a subtle, powerful force that can transform your life.

Untitled

Discover the secret to staying positive with sarcoidosis. It's not about grand gestures, but about a subtle, powerful force that can transform your life.

Hard to believe I published fifty episodes already!
#chronicillnesspodcast #sarcoidosispodcast
https://is.gd/HejoHp

The Day My Wedding Ring Betrayed Me: Diamonds, Bruises, and Sarcoidosis-Level Timing I took my wedding ring off for the first time in forever, for a sweet anniversary plan involving diamonds and a jeweler. Naturally, my finger reacted like I’d committed a crime. If you live with sarcoidosis or any chronic illness, you know the drill: you try to do one normal, romantic thing and your body files an immediate complaint. What followed was a missing ring, a believable lie (for once), a perfectly shaped bruise, and an anniversary gift that didn’t replace anything. It added to it.

The Day My Wedding Ring Betrayed Me: Love, Bruises, and Chronic Illness Truths

Raised By Women, Tempered In Kitchens: How Respect Became My Quiet Rebellion (and Why I’m Done Laughing Along) I learned respect the slow way—by watching what happened when women spoke and men decided they were “too much.” By listening in kitchens where the food mattered more than the people making it. And by living long enough with sarcoidosis and heart failure to realize time is expensive, energy is limited, and “just ignore it” is the laziest advice on earth.

Raised By Women, Tempered In Kitchens: How Respect Became My Quiet Rebellion (and Why I’m Done Laughing Along)

Raised By Women, Tempered In Kitchens:How Respect Became My Quiet Rebellion (and Why I’m Done Laughing Along) I learned respect the slow way—by watching what happened when women spoke and men decided they were “too much.” By listening in kitchens where the food mattered more than the people making it. And by living long enough with sarcoidosis and heart failure to realize time is expensive, energy is lim...

Respect taught me the slow way: watching women dismissed, working in kitchens where food mattered more than people, and living with sarcoidosis long enough to know silence can sound like agreement. #chronicillness #sarcoidosis

The Dad Who Showed Up: Grief, Sarcoidosis, and the Inheritance of Dark Humor When you grow up learning who doesn’t show up, you start measuring love in smaller, sharper ways—like footsteps on a porch, a hand on your forehead at the school nurse’s office, or the kind of laughter that keeps you upright when your body (hello, sarcoidosis) is acting like it pays rent. This is...

When love shows up, you remember. This is about the dad I lost too soon, the one who earned the title, and how those lessons followed me into adulthood, through sarcoidosis, cardiology, and dark humor. #ChronicIllness #Podcast

Don’t Rush the Chef: Why My Blogs Arrive Like Michelin-Star Meals (Not Fast Food) Ever waited for a blog post like it was your favorite dish at a slow-cooking restaurant? This chronic illness chef with sarcoidosis doesn’t post daily—and that’s okay. Here’s why blog consistency isn’t the cure-all, especially when life, health, and heart failure come to dinner uninvited. (Yes, it’s called chronic illness for a reason.)

Don’t Rush the Chef: Why My Blogs Arrive Like Michelin-Star Meals (Not Fast Food)

When My Heart Rebelled for Two Minutes—and My AICD Decided to Stay Employed Some people collect souvenirs when they travel. I collect medical printouts. One routine cardiology visit handed me a neat little report, the kind that looks boring until you realize it’s basically a receipt for a moment your body tried to freestyle without permission. If you live with sarcoidosis and heart failure, you already know the feeling: you can be doing something painfully normal, and then your insides decide to audition for a disaster movie. This is the story of the day my heart tested the emergency system—and what it taught me about limits, denial, and why “I’m fine” is sometimes a full-blown lie.

When My Heart Rebelled for Two Minutes—and My AICD Decided to Stay Employed

Some people collect souvenirs when they travel. I collect medical printouts. One routine cardiology visit handed me a neat little report, the kind that looks boring until you realize it’s basically a receipt for a moment…

When My Heart Rebelled for Two Minutes—and My AICD Decided to Stay Employed Some people collect souvenirs when they travel. I collect medical printouts. One routine cardiology visit handed me a neat little report, the kind that looks boring until you realize it’s basically a receipt for a moment your body tried to freestyle without permission. If you live with sarcoidosi...

Some people bring home souvenirs. I bring home cardiology printouts. One “routine” report showed the day my heart tried improvising without consent—and what it taught me about denial, limits, and the lie of “I’m fine.” #ChronicIllness #HeartFailure

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Vitamin D and Sarcoidosis: Why “Low Vitamin D Causes Inflammation” Headlines Don’t Tell the Whole Story A new study claims low vitamin D may drive inflammation—but if you live with sarcoidosis, the story gets more complicated. Before reaching for supplements, there’s something important many headlines leave out.

New episode: low vitamin D headlines miss the nuance when you live with sarcoidosis. Listen here: www.buzzsprout.com/2...
#Sarcoidosis #ChronicIllness #VitaminD

Vitamin D and Sarcoidosis: Why “Low Vitamin D Causes Inflammation” Headlines Don’t Tell the Whole Story A new study claims low vitamin D may drive inflammation—but if you live with sarcoidosis, the story gets more complicated. Before reaching for supplements, there’s something important many headlines leave out.

Vitamin D and Sarcoidosis: Why “Low Vitamin D Causes Inflammation” Headlines Don’t Tell the Whole Story

The Forgotten Days: What Living With Sarcoidosis Taught Me About the Ordinary Moments Between the Milestones We remember diagnoses, heartbreaks, and miracles—but what about the quiet days that carry us between them? Living with sarcoidosis has made me realize the most important parts of life might be the ones our memory quietly skips over.

We remember diagnoses, heartbreak, miracles… but what about the quiet days between them? Living with sarcoidosis taught me the moments we forget may matter most. #ChronicIllness #Sarcoidosis #InvisibleIllness

If only it were that simple 🤣

The Forgotten Days: What Living With Sarcoidosis Taught Me About the Ordinary Moments Between the Milestones Living with sarcoidosis has shown me that the quiet moments between the most memorable experiences often hold the greatest significance in life.

The Forgotten Days: What Living With Sarcoidosis Taught Me About the Ordinary Moments Between the Milestones

But it also sharpens your understanding of what actually matters.

These are the kinds of reflections I talk about on my podcast Thoughts While Surviving Chronic Illness.

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Breathing a little easier. Having a little more energy than yesterday.

You also discover who your real support system is. The people who stay, who listen, and who understand when plans have to change.

Chronic illness changes your life in ways you never expected.
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