Courage to Care – Christie Patient

Last month we moved into our new home in Hawaii. My husband, Jonny, flew back to the mainland immediately for several months of Army training, so I was left to get settled on my own. I started tearing through all the boxes and piles of things to make the place…

My journey to becoming a caregiver for my mom, Holly, was a quick one. I learned about her prognosis and treatment options while she was en route to the ICU to await a lung transplant. The exacerbation of her acute idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis was so sudden that there was…

For me, the scariest part of the pandemic has been imagining one of my loved ones developing a severe case of COVID-19. Relatable statement, I know. But I don’t have to try too hard to imagine what being sick like that would look like. I have lived through a similar…

We moved out of our house today. Tomorrow, my husband, Jonny, our two pets, and I will board a plane for a new life in a new place. We are leaving Washington state behind for good. While I am sad to leave my friends, closing this chapter feels like a…

Five years ago, every change in my health status or that of a loved one had the potential to become a catastrophe in my mind. Learning that a loved one was unwell used to send me into a weeks-long obsessive panic. I would get freaked out by what…

Even in normal times, holidays can be a huge vector for illness. Viruses that thrive during the colder months, such as influenza, can cause serious problems for those with compromised immune systems or poor pulmonary function. This year, with the novel coronavirus, the…

Earlier this month, I wrote a column about mental health and therapy options available during the pandemic. Hopefully, I made a strong case for giving therapy a try if you have been hesitant. I will always encourage people to try it out, but I…

Oct. 10 was World Mental Health Day. I am a bit late to the party, but with a twice-monthly publishing schedule, this is my first opportunity to share a column inspired by Mental Health Day. In previous columns, I have discussed my mental health struggles and how I use…

The medical facility at the military base where my husband is stationed is enormous. Almost every specialty you can imagine is under one roof. The first time I had an appointment there, the scheduler instructed me over the phone to visit the “Jay Team”…

The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where my mom, Holly, received her double-lung transplant, has gone to great lengths to provide information at every turn on the transplant journey. The infamous blue binder contains everything you need to know about post-transplant life. UCSF’s approach to transplant…

Receiving a pulmonary fibrosis diagnosis is a life-changing event. Accepting this new reality may initially seem impossible. There are so many new things to consider that never were on the radar before they suddenly became important. In addition to finding your footing in the present, you must…

I’ve been going through a second (Third? Fourth?) wave of grief for all things pre-pandemic. I am still mourning things that once brought me joy but are currently off-limits — rugby, concerts, being a wedding photographer, and date night out, to name a few things. I’m still hurting…