Grief is one of the more complex emotions we experience. In my practice as a therapist, I regularly support people who are grieving, and I have a variety of therapeutic ways to respond to someone who is processing loss. The most common strategy is to validate grief’s myriad effects on…
Veterans Day is approaching on Nov. 11, and most of us know someone who served in the military. For this column, I’d like to honor someone who left behind some promising words of the highest degree. During a recent conversation, the person I was chatting with brought up my…
Early last week, the temperature here at Lake Anna, Virginia, was in the mid-80s, which was uncharacteristic for an October afternoon. By the end of the week, the highs were barely above 50 F, and frost would greet the morning sun. I started each day with a sense of awe…
The pharmaceutical company Humanetics will use a federal grant to fund a series of studies aimed at advancing the development of BIO 300 for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) — for one, testing the treatment candidate for its effectiveness in easing lung scarring, or fibrosis. BIO 300 is thought to…
Today is traditionally a day for trick-or-treating, haunted houses, pumpkin patches, hay rides, and of course, pumpkin “chunkin’”. I have always enjoyed Halloween, the scariest day of the year for many. I mentioned last week that my wife, Susan, and I host a Halloween costume party each year. Costumed partygoers and…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted breakthrough therapy designation to BMS-986278, Bristol Myers Squibb’s investigational therapy for progressive pulmonary fibrosis (PF). Breakthrough therapy designation is intended to expedite the development and review of medicines for serious or life-threatening diseases. The decision is based on preliminary…
The pulmonary fibrosis (PF) community is not a stranger to stress. Regardless of your role, whether as a patient, caregiver, or transplant recipient, you’ve likely experienced it. The stress could be white coat syndrome or come from a test, procedure, or the many unknowns associated with living…
Use of cancer chemotherapy agents or rituximab to treat autoimmune diseases was associated with an increased risk of pulmonary fibrosis (PF) in people hospitalized with COVID-19, according to a large-scale U.S. study. Exposure to these medications, along with anti-inflammatory corticosteroids and amiodarone, used to treat certain heart rhythm disorders,…
Living with a chronic illness like idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a multifaceted endeavor. It’s hard to fully describe just how many aspects of life the disease affects. Despite writing about it for seven years, there’s always something new I want to share with this community, because…
Have you ever had the nagging feeling that a gray cloud was hanging over your head? For the past three years and 10 months, I’ve felt such a cloud. It comes from being labeled and stigmatized for my disability. Stigma can be described as a deeply discrediting attribute that…
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