Columns

I remember the early days of my vasculitis diagnosis, when high dosages of steroids and chemotherapy robbed me of joy. My physical self was suffering to the extent that my mind and spirit broke with it. For several months, I woke up in the morning and had to sit…

“Hey, how are you doing?” It’s a common question that we use to greet everyone from close friends to the cashier at a local coffee shop. If you are a rare disease patient, you’ve likely encountered this scenario at some point on your journey. Someone may ask this basic…

As I approach the 15-year anniversary of my vasculitis diagnosis, I’ve started to contemplate the lessons that battling this disease has taught me. There are many, though some stand out. As an athletics coach, I’m always looking for ways to learn from experiences. My own coach for my decade-plus…

The first week of February, I turned 35. It was a typical, uneventful adult birthday — especially because it fell on a Monday. I happened to be traveling back from a weekend of out-of-state work, so besides some good wishes from family and friends, there wasn’t a huge celebration. (At…

Living with a rare disease, by its nature, is isolating. According to the National Organization for Rare Disorders, a rare disease is one that affects fewer than 200,000 Americans. There are currently over 7,000 such diseases. I’ve lived with ANCA vasculitis, a subset of autoimmune diseases that affects…

When the world outside of your head becomes overwhelming and you need to cling to something for support, where do you find your center? With vasculitis, that world is an unfamiliar one. It’s full of new challenges, new details a patient is obligated to learn for their own…

“This isn’t the life that I planned, but it’s the life that I got,” an athlete friend of mine recently said as he sipped his latte. Now in his 70s, my friend was reflecting on a life he had worked hard for, but which wasn’t quite what he had imagined.

Those of you who have followed my column for at least a year might recall my annual January tradition, called Hibernation. I treat it as a mental and physical reset, and eagerly look forward to it after the bustle of the holiday season. I began Hibernating in 2016…

For many years, I lived with an anxiety-crippled brain from being a self-absorbed endurance athlete who had been diagnosed with granulomatosis with polyangiitis — a form of vasculitis — at a young age. That pain was almost a badge of honor. I had suffered more than most people…

Body image involves more than vanity. Though we often think of cosmetics and fitness as superficial, the reality is that they help us feel good about ourselves. We want to appeal to a mate, impress friends, and come off as professional to work colleagues. But everything about the physical body…