It’s no secret that when you are diagnosed with a chronic illness, your life will inevitably change in numerous ways. Lung diseases, such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), are bound to impact your physical, mental, and emotional health because breathing is involved in every aspect of our lives.
Columns
Given the stage of life I am in, many people are curious to know what type of work I do for a living. This curiosity often comes naturally to people when interacting with young adults — especially when they know about the years of schooling that many…
I have experienced a whirlwind of emotions, good and bad, since being diagnosed with IPF. Sometimes I feel these emotions randomly, and other times they are attributed to how my day has gone overall. For example, if I have had a good day physically when my breathing…
Since I received my IPF diagnosis about 16 months ago, there have been many times when things in my life have felt out of my control. For example, I neither can control how rapidly my disease is progressing, nor the physical limitations that I have due to…
Yesterday I had a difficult experience. It began when our electricity went out as it was turning dark. We didn’t know the cause of the power outage, or how long it would be out. We later learned that a tree in the neighborhood fell down and took…
Sometimes when people ask me, “What do you need” or “What can I do to help,” I feel like a broken record since my response is usually, “I don’t know.” I wish I did know what I need when I am in a poor emotional state, sobbing uncontrollably about…
Adjust, adjust, adjust… Part of living with pulmonary fibrosis is adjusting to changes that happen as our disease worsens. There is so much to adjust to that it can be overwhelming at times. Supplemental oxygen I first started using supplemental oxygen two months after I received my diagnosis.
I have always enjoyed traveling and have been privileged enough as a young adult to enjoy vacations that span the globe. While some were related with business, such as being flown to Calgary, Saskatchewan, Halifax, New York City, Dubai, Colorado, California and Washington, others were purely for leisure. If you…
This past weekend, I was able to get away from all of my medical treatments, therapies, and appointments and spend time at my cottage with two dear friends. We had been planning this for a long time, and I knew it was going to be a weekend…
I had the pleasure of being a patient guest on a live webinar last week, which shared information about the IPF Catalyst Challenge – a contest with a $1 million prize to come up with solutions to help PF patients. This contest invites the brightest…
