Columns

Trust me when I say that this column does not come without a lot of behind–the–scenes work to try to change my thinking so I can offer a more positive message. I still can’t say I practice what I preach. But I do want to share an…

When I sit down to write these columns, I often reflect on something that has been difficult throughout my journey with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). I usually focus on something that has changed as a result of my disease — something I have lost, or something that…

About a year ago I put on my “big girl panties” and began the fight to get my oxygen provider to supply me with liquid oxygen. Up to this point, I’d been using an oxygen concentrator at home, and a portable oxygen concentrator away from home. I…

As summer settles on most of Southern Ontario, Canada, it brings with it our first heat wave. Normally, I love the heat. Even last year, after I received my diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), I didn’t mind the summer months. This year, with significantly reduced lung function,…

In a recent column, I wrote about how I felt and acted much differently than normal. I mentioned that I was grumpy, irritable, quiet, and mad, and I referenced a few things and reasons that left me feeling this way. What I neglected to mention is another…

Last week, I shared how common it is for patients and loved ones to struggle with the severity of our PF diagnosis. We are all equipped differently to handle emotional pain and face the reality of what we are dealing with. Our faith can be a…

As one of my beloved healthcare providers always tells me, “There is no rule book for living with pulmonary fibrosis.” She says this when we talk about my constant frustration of living with a life-threatening illness, and the unpredictability, anxiety and emotional turmoil that comes with it.

For the people around me on a regular basis, I admit I have not been the most pleasant person this week. I have been far from myself and instead have been grumpy, irritable, quiet and mad. This is unlike me and I know it. I also hate…

It is common for patients and loved ones to struggle with the reality of our diagnosis. For patients, it is tough to take in that we have a terminal illness. It is hard for us to reconcile how tragedies happen to those who have a positive effect…

As I write this column I am sitting in the uncomfortable chair in our local emergency room (ER) waiting room. This is a chair that I have sat in far too many times, with a familiar visual of nurses moving swiftly around the unit replacing IVs, coupled…