New Diagnosis:

It's so hard to have a new one or to have a diagnosis change for the worse, or have a decline in our health status or prognosis.
 

The information itself, the way the information was presented to us, our past experiences with the disease(s), our fears, and so many other factors play into this very difficult -- often overlooked part of becoming sick.

Perhaps you've been fighting for a diagnosis for so long that you immediately feel relieved before feeling devastated when you recognize the fullness of the implications.

However you are feeling.  Feel that for now.  Take a minute to collect your bearings and start to digest this new information.

I've assembled some resources that might feel timely:

Post-Diagnosis Suggestions

 Here are a selection of downloads, blogs, and videos I put together with this time in mind.

 Tips for Family and Loved ones

Whether we've been sick a long time or are newly diagnosed, many of those closes to us are uncertain how to plug in.  This download for friends and loved ones has some easy tips and recommendations that can be implemented today to help support YOU.

Dealing with a Difficult Diagnosis

In this video I'm asking the question: How do you metabolize a difficult diagnosis? What do you do when you learn: it's terminal, it has no cure, it is the thing you were afraid of, it is something you've never heard of but the description is big and scary? In my life, my wife believes that we pick fights with one another rather than address the difficult diagnosis. What are the skills? First…

Learning to Ask for Help

With the heavy weight of our collective and individual worlds, everyone seems to be struggling in some shape or form. Reaching out for others is incredibly important, but its hard to do that without feeling guilt due to the hardship and pain that many are going through. We would love to see a story that affirms that it is OK to still reach out for help, and maybe some tips for navigating…

High Stakes Doctors Appointment: Part Two

In this video I’m talking about my upcoming trip to Seattle to check on my lungs. These appointments always feel really high stakes. Part of that is because if I'm losing ground, the primary course of treatment would be to go back on the lung transplant list. Knowing what it's like to lose significant lung function, it's tough to not be afraid to that possibility...

What Matters

I had the awesome privilege of getting to hear one of my favorite authors, Elizabeth Gilbert, speak in Portland last month.  She inspires me in her writing.  She makes me think critically.  She makes me laugh.  Each time I’ve had a chance to listen to her in person or in recorded interviews, I appreciate her honest reflections and the way she shares deeply from her life