Charlene Marshall is a fiercely independent 30-something-year-old who can’t sit still. She loves coffee, wine tasting, playing with her dog, and spending time on the beach with her family. She’s a lover of all things travel, and never passes up an opportunity for a dip in the ocean! A proud Canadian, Charlene was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in 2016 after 13 months of investigation into sudden shortness of breath, a chronic cough, and unusual fatigue. IPF has forced her to slow down, but she’s slowly learning the value of quality versus quantity in everything she does.
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive lung disease, which means it worsens over time. Because there’s no cure, the goal is to try and preserve lung function for as long as possible. This may involve regular monitoring…
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Have you ever had to persuade yourself to do something? I often negotiate with myself to complete tasks I don’t want to do by rewarding myself with something enjoyable afterward. That worked when I was in school and cramming…
Most of the conversations in the Pulmonary Fibrosis News Forums are about the physical and medical aspects of living with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). But occasionally we steer off-topic and talk about who we are as people…
A roadblock to your future could be any number of things. Perhaps it is a new skill necessary to advance your career or the finances needed for a big purchase. Those are normal hurdles that many have to overcome…
As I sit down to write this column, I am having a difficult day. Following a recent column about vulnerability, I heard from many readers who said my words encouraged them to express their own vulnerabilities. As a…
An emerging healthcare priority in the past decade has been patient-centered care. It is an idea that many facilities are still trying to define. Patient-centered care is simple to me: person first, patient second. I’m grateful to…
You may be familiar with the proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child.” The phrase is believed to have originated from the Nigerian Igbo culture and is often cited in literature and popular media, most famously…
You would be hard-pressed to find anyone who hates pulmonary fibrosis (PF) more than the patients living with it and their caregivers. This chronic and debilitating disease, characterized by progressive scarring in the lungs, is cruel and relentless. PF…
One of my most vivid memories of my late friend Serena Lawrence is when we sat down to discuss my becoming a columnist for Bionews Services. I’d just been diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a lung disease…
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a little-known, complex, and misunderstood rare disease. I hadn’t heard of it before my diagnosis at the tender age of 28, just over three years ago. Learning to live with a fatal lung disease…
In December, I wrote a column about slowly emerging from a month of being sick with pneumonia and the flu. I shared the importance of doing our best as patients living with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) to…
These past six weeks have been difficult as I continue to recover from a horrible ordeal with both pneumonia and influenza. While I’ll never know how I came into contact with these viruses, I’ve become paranoid about touching…
I’ve held three full-time jobs in my career, each averaging about 40 hours per week. I’ve never tracked the number of hours I spend managing my chronic illness, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they equate to a full-time workweek.
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