It’s been a while since my last post, almost six weeks. A lot has happened health wise with me since then. Lots of testing and fighting with insurance to pay for the major part of the testing and just saying “F**k it!”, and paying for it myself. It has been a small journey, and one…
Tag: Hope
Try To See The Good In Everything
Change is inevitable. No matter how much we want things to stay or go back to how they were, they never are. So why grieve over the past that can never return. Yes, you were healthy and vibrant a year ago and now you have a chronic illness where you feel like crap most of…
The Weekend Revisit: The Passages Of Time
Why is it that time flies? When I was a boy, it seemed as if time took forever to pass through my universe, but now as an adult, a day, a month, a year flies by in the blink of an eye. I have been at this blogging adventure for a little over two years…
The Weekend Revisit Of “The Power Of Positivity”
When I was first diagnosed with heart failure in August 2007, I was told my ejection fraction was 25% and I needed to have an ICD implanted. That was immediately after having surgery to close a hole in my heart, and during that surgery doctors came to the realization that sarcoidosis had gone into the heart….
Stumbling Is Another Opportunity To Dust Myself Off And Start Over
What can I say about this disease. It seems I make a step forward and then another one back or sometimes even two. For those of you that are now coming across my blog for the first time, I have a disease known as sarcoidosis and in 2007, I found out that it was in…
The Weekend Revisit Of: The Only True Healer Is You
I came across a blog recently that was written by a person with some of the same conditions that I have – heart failure and pulmonary hypertension. The tone of the writing was very angry and bitter towards both the diseases and the establishment.
Wise Words Wednesday : Wayne Dyer #2
Kindness, Always Kindness Originally Posted on MAY 11, 2012 If you find yourself in a confrontation of any kind with anyone, be it a family member or a stranger, before reacting ask yourself, “Is what I am about to say motivated by my need to be right, or my desire to be kind?” Then pick…
The Weekend Revisit Of: No Matter What You Do, I Send You Love
When I decided to return to massage school, I was assured by the school that they will work with me and my conditions. The school has been swallowed up by another corporation and the rules have changed. Of course now everyone is back tracking and claiming they never said as such, and that they were…
The Weekend Revisit of: A Wasted Heart?
There is no greater gift than that of a second chance at life, and the ultimate gift is for a parent or spouse to decide to donate their loved one’s organs so that another person may have life. When an organ is donated, the recipient has a second chance, an opportunity given by the…
My Dreaded Registering With “The Man” Has Finally Come
Ever since developing cardiac sarcoidosis and getting my AICD implanted, I dreaded that one day it would affect my ability to get my driver’s permit. I love to drive, even in traffic. In summer my job requires that I drive an average of 4,000 miles in that time, and sometimes a 2 1/2 hour trip…
The Weekend Revisit Of “Crossing Bridges”
Originally posted on April 22, 2012 On a recent trip into NYC for my ICD interrogation, my wife and I took a train down town to see the 9/11 memorial. We have not been there since the buildings fell. Prior to the attacks we were often in the North Tower as my brother had his…
Prednisone Withdrawal Is No Fun
Today marks exactly 10 years, non stop, that I am on Prednisone for sarcoidosis. The side effects of this medication can be horrendous, but thankfully my experience in those ten years were just mostly mood changes, thining skin and some weight gain. I am told that for being on it so long, my weight gain…
The Weekend Revisit of “Appreciating My Life”
Originally posted April 10, 2012It’s spring, and with it comes new beginnings, new life, new starts. I recently changed all of my bank accounts to another bank as my old bank was bought out. I had to change my work email address as there were technical difficulties with the old one. Little changes, big steps….
The Saturday Revisit Of “Letting Go Of My Old Self”
Originally Posted March 9, 2012 Letting Go Of My Old Self One thing about having a chronic condition, and in my case, more than one, is that you need to accept that your life, in one way or another, will change forever. I remember the day before I had my defibrillator implanted I knew that…
The Sunday Revisit Of “Is There Such A Thing As Being Too Positive?”
Originally Posted March 7, 2012 Looking at the statistics on my blog, and a few emails I received, it seems the posts with the highest number of hits are those few ones where I am not positive. What exactly are people looking for? Are people look for stories and posts of despair that prove…
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…
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…
Last Night I Met The Man Of My Dreams
Last night my wife was listening to an audio book about Edgar Cayce and his visitation by an Angel. I thought to myself how cool it would be to be visited in person by an Angel and fell asleep listening to the book. I had the most amazing dream. I dreamt that I was walking…
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….
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…
The Sunday Morning Revisit Of “Color Me Blessed”
The Sunday Morning Revisits are posts that I wrote a few years back that I think deserve another look. Here is one originally posted November 19, 2011 entitled “Color Me Blessed” I know, I sound like a stuck record about how blessed I am, blah, blah, blah. But I can’t help but look at all…
The Saturday Morning Revisit Of “Once You Have Hope”
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 8, 2011 entitled “ONCE YOU HAVE HOPE” I received an email from a sarcoidosis sufferer asking me how can I constantly maintain a positive attitude. I have answered this question…
I Don’t Care About Your Sexual Orientation And Neither Should Anyone Else
It still fascinates me to this day that we still live in world where people still feel the need to justify their love with the rest of the world. Why is it that I am not expected to walk up to the world and announce that I am straight? Why do I need to tell…
What Would You Do If Your Best Friend Admitted To Cheating?
I recently came across an incident where two best friends got married to two best friends. One of the people cheated and admitted it to their best friend, and the best friend was in a quandary as to what to do. I wondered how I would handle that sort of situation, and wonder how you…
Are You Unknowingly Doing Away With All The Good In Someone Else’s World?
Do you ever have any of those ” A-Ha!” moments as Oprah calls them, where something has been right in front of your face for years and you never notice it, and then it just slaps you across the face? I had of those today, and it seemed insignificant but the more I thought about…
The Weekend Worthy Revisit: The Definition Of Me
Originally Posted on October 3, 2011 When I moved to the US 25 years ago, one of the things the struck me with the culture is people’s need to know what you did for a living. They would meet you, and immediately ask what type of work you did. I realized with time, that no…
