Columns

My inspiration for this column came from looking out my window, which was built high up and close to the ceiling. I call it “God’s Window,” because every morning, I can look up to the heavens, and every night, I can see the stars. It’s beautiful when the sun is…

If you have spent any time on the internet, you have likely found some incredibly useful, accurate information. At the same time, you likely have encountered misleading claims, missed an opportunity to have large sums of money transferred to you, and received some bad advice. The ability to exchange information…

One of the most common symptoms of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is the chronic cough. While patients may have other characteristics of a cough, such as bringing up phlegm, most of the ones I know living with this cruel and life-threatening lung disease have a cough that is…

My 2017 diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis changed all our plans. Over the course of our journey, my wife, Susan, found herself responsible for many tasks I’d normally take on inside and outside of our home. Susan has told many people over time that if she asked me…

My friend Chase and I sat in my treehouse one sunny afternoon looking across the arid valley between my childhood home and the towering crest of the Sierra Nevada. We were 10. We noticed a plume of smoke rising from the hills, which soon turned into a blaze that destroyed…

Pulmonary fibrosis has stolen a lot from me over the years. Like most people, I’d never heard of this cruel and life-threatening disease before my diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in 2016. I also had no idea how many other body systems are affected by chronic…

Growing up in the Mexican culture, I was introduced to a lot of home remedies to treat everything — coughs, colds, stomachaches, fevers, bug bites, and even “el mal de ojo,” or the “evil eye.” Mexican folk medicine was an important part of my upbringing, but as an…

When I see an adult acting out in public, I find it annoying. If a front-line healthcare worker asks you to properly wear a mask in a clinical setting, please adjust your mask. Complaining about the rules and overreach of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)…

The day you’re diagnosed with a chronic illness is generally a day you won’t forget. The words from my doctor, Steven Nathan, made sense in the moment. They also became a collection of sound bites. They fall into three distinct categories: 1) you have, 2) you can expect, and…

A strong relationship with a medical specialist can make a world of difference. As a young adult living with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a debilitating and life-threatening lung disease, I have various specialists, but the one I value most is my pulmonologist. Before my diagnosis in 2016, I bounced…