Category: Medical

A Revisit Of “Open Lung Biopsy – My Truth”

Twelve years ago today I officially began this journey with Sarcoidosis when I had an open lung biopsy. Four years afterwards I wrote about it. Once more I give you my experience of the worst operation I ever had, but as bad as the experience was, I never regret doing it. I finally gave in…

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Before You Can Really Get Help, Learn About Yourself

Exactly ten years ago today, I got a call from my doctor to confirm that my test results were positive for sarcoidosis. The day before, I came out of the hospital after a three day stay for an open lung biopsy, the test to determine if sarcoidosis was indeed active in my lungs. To date,…

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The Saturday Revisit Of “It’s All Just 50/50”

Originally Posted January 30, 2012 As I approach my fifth year of living with heart failure brought on by sarcoidosis, I think back to the day that I learned that people with cardiac sarcoidosis have a 50% chance of living for five years and a 20% chance of making it to ten years. Then I…

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The Saturday Revisit Of “Why Do People Suffer?”

Originally Posted January 3, 2012 I was telling my wife about an email I received from someone telling me that they have suffered from sarcoidosis for many years, when she interrupted me and asked “Why do people suffer?”. The question stopped me in my tracks and I realized the sheer power of words and their…

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Do I Look Like An Old Woman To You?

I am on prednisone now for ten years straight, without ever taking a break. My dosage has been as much as 70mg to as low the current 5mg. I am on what the call a “maintenance” dose, which translates to “because you are on prednisone for so long, your body can't make its own, so…

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The Sunday Revisit Of “A Pill Doesn’t Weigh Anything”

Originally Posted December 6, 2011 When I was first diagnosed with Sarcoidosis in 2006, my BMI was 22. With a healthy BMI being between 18.5-24.9, I was slim and “normal”. Now five and a half years later, with no pause in taking prednisone, my BMI is now 27.1, which translates to being 30 pounds overweight….

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The Saturday Revisit Of “Is Anything Really A Waste Of Time?”

Originally Posted December 4, 2011 Yesterday, when I walked into Mt. Sinai for the Sarcoidosis Support Group meeting, I had this instant foreboding that it was going to be a big waste of time, and I almost turned back before I even entered the auditorium. I didn’t and I stayed for the whole thing. It…

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The Saturday Morning Revisit Of ” And I Play My Little Game

The Saturday Morning Revisits are posts that I wrote a few years back that I think deserve another look. Here is one originally posted December 14, 2011 entitled “And I Play My Little Game” I walk through the mall, in the grocery, the streets, and I watch into the eyes of strangers. They glance and…

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An Even Easier Way To Sort Your Medications! Have It Done For You!

I used to take fifteen different medications over four different periods during the day at one point in my journey with Sarcoidosis and its a pain to try to remember what to take and when, especially when the medication you are taking messes with your memory. I originally bought a monthly pill sorter which works…

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The Saturday Morning Revisit Of “Diary Of A PET Scan”

The Saturday Morning Revisits are posts that I wrote a few years back that I think deserve another look. Here is one originally posted November 21, 2011 entitled “Diary Of A PET Scan I had two PET scans before, one in 2007 and one in 2009. My sarcoidosis doctor decided for me to have another…

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