Thoughts While Surviving Chronic Illness
In this deeply personal and often darkly funny podcast, Tate Basildon shares stories about life, sarcoidosis, chronic illness, and the fragile art of keeping hope alive when the body doesn’t always cooperate. From hospital rooms to kitchen tables, each episode blends honesty, humor, and reflection — exploring what it really means to live fully when every breath is borrowed. Whether you’re living with chronic illness or just trying to stay human in a complicated world, you’ll find a mix of heart, resilience, and the occasional sarcastic laugh.
Episodes
20 episodes
What You Don’t See: A Chef’s Reflection on Living With Sarcoidosis
Living with sarcoidosis is like starring in a medical drama no one else can see—one where you look perfectly fine on the outside while your organs do the cha-cha backstage. Back in 2011, when all of this felt new and terrifying, I kept most of ...
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6:32
Maybe Your Life’s Purpose Isn’t Huge—But It’s Still Enough
Between the dishes, the meds, and the chaos of chronic illness, it’s easy to wonder if you were meant for something bigger. But what if your true purpose isn’t grand at all—just one quiet, human act that changes everything? This heartfelt refle...
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6:58
Why I Don’t Complain: A Chef’s Guide to Surviving Chronic Illness Without Losing My Mind (or My Manners).
Living with chronic illness and heart failure has taught me one thing—complaining doesn’t fix a damn thing. As a chef juggling sarcoidosis, a leaky heart, and life’s general nonsense, I’ve learned that silence isn’t denial—it’s survival. Here’s...
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6:28
Why I Walked Away From Support Groups (And Found My Voice Instead)
Living with sarcoidosis is already its own exhausting full-time job, so the idea of a support group sounded…promising. Or at least not disastrous. But back in the early 2010s, when my lungs and heart were misbehaving like rebellious teenagers, ...
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7:21
When Hospital Check-In Feels Like an Interrogation: A Chef, an MRI, and Too Many Personal Questions
Before my MRI next week, a simple online check-in turned into a bizarre quiz about my private life, sprinkled with the usual sarcoidosis-related precautions—but what came next left me blinking at the screen and wondering who exactly was getting...
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6:54
Losing My Voice but Not My Humor: Living With Sarcoidosis, Symbicort, and a Stubborn Set of Lungs
Sarcoidosis may steal your breath, your energy, and—if you’re lucky—your voice, but it can’t take your sense of humor. As a chef living with chronic illness and heart failure, I’ve learned to navigate breathing tests, inhalers, and vocal cord d...
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6:24
The Night I Met My Inner Warrior: A Mini Memoir
At sixteen, a quiet walk home turned into the scariest night of my life — and the moment I found the fighter hiding inside me. What began as terror became transformation, proving that courage doesn’t wait for permission. This is the story of ho...
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4:01
The $280,000 Question: Do I Change My Doctors or My Insurance?
When your doctors of twenty years suddenly drop your insurance, sarcoidosis and heart failure become the least of your problems. Here’s what happens when loyalty meets bureaucracy, and why choosing between good doctors and great insurance feels...
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5:29
The War After the War: A Chef’s Salute to Veterans, Especially the Forgotten Ones.
On Veterans Day, I find myself thinking about the soldiers who fought in wars they never chose—especially the Vietnam vets who came home to rejection instead of honor. As someone living with sarcoidosis and heart failure, I understand battles t...
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5:55
Why I'd Rather Crawl Than Ask For Help: A Chronic Illness Reality
Living with sarcoidosis and heart failure has taught me many things—chief among them? Asking for help often leads to more stress than it’s worth. If you’re chronically ill, fiercely independent, or just tired of being disappointed by well-meani...
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5:44
I’ll Take My Coffee With Oat milk And Zero Judgement. Thanks.
Coffee snobs may insist that “real coffee lovers” drink it black, but I’m here to say flavor and joy matter more than bitterness and bravado. Whether it’s a caramel macchiato, a hazelnut oat milk latte, or a straight-up espresso shot, coffee is...
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4:51
BONUS: Why I Absolutely Can’t Stand Halloween (And What It Says About Us)
As a chef battling sarcoidosis and heart failure, debris from a life that refuses to behave, I’m here to tell you why Halloween — creepy skeletons, gore-fest lawns, serial-killer mannequin dioramas and all — feels wrong in a way that psychology...
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7:39
Silence, Sass, and Self-Control: How I Learned Not to Clap Back at Every Rude Receptionist
Tired of rude medical staff and customer service that feels more like combat? As a private chef living with sarcoidosis and heart failure, I’ve learned that silence and self-control—not clapbacks—are my best defense against everyday negativity....
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7:07
Rediscovering Joy: Why Asterix & Obelix Became My Unexpected Chronic Illness Therapy
Living with chronic illness can be exhausting—but sometimes, the best medicine isn’t in a prescription bottle. For me, it came in the form of two tiny Gauls named Asterix and Obelix. This heartfelt reflection explores how nostalgia, humor, and ...
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5:44
Why I Ditched PillPack: The Truth About Mail-Order Pharmacies and Medication Chaos.
After six months of delayed shipments, missing meds, and endless insurance headaches, I finally ditched Amazon’s PillPack and went back to my local pharmacy. If you live with chronic illness or juggle multiple prescriptions, here’s what you sho...
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5:38
Cooking Through the Chaos: My Life With Sarcoidosis, Heart Failure & Debut Novel Dreams
I’m a chef, husband, pet-parent, and emerging novelist living with pulmonary sarcoidosis, heart failure and the wild ride of long-term prednisone treatment. If you’re juggling a chronic illness, creative ambitions and ordinary life chaos—you’re...
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6:12
Eighteen Years Since Diagnosis: My Open Lung Biopsy Story
Eighteen years after my sarcoidosis diagnosis, I’m finally sharing the story of my open lung biopsy—the surgery that changed everything. From failed bronchoscopy to five hours on the operating table, this brutally honest account reveals what re...
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6:10