Courage to Care - a column by Christie Patient

Christie Patient is a life-long explorer of the Wild West. She now resides in the Hawaiian Islands with her husband, Jonny and their two four-legged friends. Christie is a full-time freelancer, nature lover, and business owner. She took a break from work in 2019 to care for her mother, Holly before and after her double-lung transplant. Christie’s column documents the experience of her mother’s IPF progression, months-long hospitalization at UC San Francisco, and life-saving transplant. She hopes that her family’s transplant story can provide a unique perspective for other IPF patients and family members.

I Feel Most Human When My Heart Is Heavy

For all the time I’ve spent in my 31 years “sitting in the U-bend, thinking about death,” as Moaning Myrtle from the “Harry Potter” series says, facing the loss of a loved one hasn’t gotten any easier. In spite of all my pondering, reading, and writing on the subject of…

Social Media Advocacy Requires Radical Vulnerability

As a millennial, I came of age with the internet. I remember the thrill of choosing the perfect screen name for AOL Instant Messenger before going to camp. (luv4pigs31, if you were wondering.) In eighth grade, I created my first social media account. Back in the early 2000s, Myspace was…

Busting 4 Common Lung Transplant Myths

When I was growing up, I loved the show “MythBusters.” I tuned in regularly to watch Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman bust famous myths and answer burning questions like, “Will using a cellphone near a gas pump cause an explosion?” 2003 seemed like a simpler time, didn’t it?…

Caregiving Was a Catalyst to Telling Rare Disease Stories

I have several roles here at Bionews, the parent company that publishes Pulmonary Fibrosis News and other rare disease websites. I started with this humble column and eventually joined the forums team as a co-moderator. My most recently acquired title is “columns lead,” in which I manage and mentor…