Veni, Vidi, Vascie – a Column by Suzanne DePaolis

Depression is a challenging illness to manage. When I have a depressive spell, it feels like I’m stuck in a cold, gray fog with no way out. No matter what I do, I can’t see past the gloom. For the past two weeks, I’ve been lost in it. Dealing…

I’ve had eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA), a type of ANCA vasculitis, for 17 years. After my diagnosis, I had to change my life and reinvent myself. At the same time, I was grieving my life before EGPA and educating myself about my new normal.

Do you remember when you were in school and a field trip was planned? I remember the excitement these trips would bring. The destination wasn’t important. The special lunch, the new clothes, and the thrill of the unknown excited me. My lunch was full of things I normally wouldn’t eat…

As I was walking around my house today looking at all the accumulated dust bunnies and housework I need to do, I came across my husband’s treasured Kintsugi bowl, and it made me think. In Japan, instead of throwing out broken and battered pottery, the art of Kintsugi is…

What is your diagnosis day? Mine is April 1, 2007. There was irony in finding out I had a life-altering, incurable illness on April Fools’ Day. I accused my doctor of playing a prank on me. I thought he was joking. Before my diagnosis, a few medical professionals…

“You are about to enter another dimension. A dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind. A journey into a not-so-wondrous land of side effects. … Next stop: the ‘predni-zone.'” I have been living in the “predni-zone” for more than 14 years. In eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis…

Some days, I wake up and never want to leave the comfort of my bed. I don’t want to get up and struggle through the day. I don’t want to remember that I have eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA), and even simple tasks take more energy than I have.

Rare is steak cooked to an internal temperature of 120 to 130 F. Rare are opals found in the Nevada desert. Rare is finding out who left the toilet paper roll empty. Rare is not me. I have spent my life trying to be typical and to fit…

Last summer, my husband and I bought an RV to drive across the U.S. to see my dad. My mom died last spring, and we hadn’t yet traveled to visit my father in Florida, because of COVID-19. I really needed to hold my dad’s hand and hug him. I…

I have a rare illness called eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis, or EGPA. It causes an increased number of white blood cells known as eosinophils, which can cause significant inflammation in my organs and my small and medium blood vessels. EGPA has affected my heart, lungs, sinuses, gastrointestinal system,…