Columns

Understanding Palliative Care

Last week, my husband and I met with a palliative care nurse. A few weeks ago, I shared in another column my frustration with seeking palliative care. Our meeting with this nurse was very helpful. I’ll share what I learned, and I hope it will…

Being a Patient Can Test Our Patience

Everyone diagnosed with a life-threatening disease or chronic illness can have a different experience as a patient. Many factors might cause this, including how involved patients are or want to be in their medical care, the expertise of their physicians, and how rapidly or invasive their disease becomes.

I Am Changed Since My Diagnosis

It likely wouldn’t surprise anyone to hear that after being diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, there are many things about which a patient might feel differently. There also are changes both internally and externally that a patient will endure. These can be grander things, such as the way…

The Guilt of Being Immune-compromised

Since the beautiful season of fall has embraced us in southwestern Ontario, so has cold and flu season. Between the seasons changing and the kids going to school, there is an entirely new environment to breed germs, and I am hearing of more and more people catching a…

I’ve Lost a Lot But I’m Still Thankful

As the seasons slowly change here in Southwestern Ontario and we welcome the beauty of fall, I can’t help but reflect on this past summer. It was filled with some happy memories, but also hard times as my disease progressed and my lungs struggled with the heat and…

Seeking Palliative Care

I recently met with someone to talk about palliative care. I’m here to share my experience in hopes it will help you, too. My last column about end-stage PF had thousands of views and LOTS of comments, which shows how important it is to talk about these…