Thoughts While Surviving Chronic Illness: Ramblings From a Chef Whose Body Constantly Rebels
Thoughts While Surviving Chronic Illness is a lived-experience podcast about life with sarcoidosis, heart failure, and the strange realities of long-term illness that no one prepares you for.
This podcast is for people living with sarcoidosis, navigating chronic illness, managing heart failure, or supporting someone with a rare disease.
Hosted by Tate, a private chef living with cardiopulmonary sarcoidosis, this podcast explores what it’s really like to survive chronic illness—not just medically, but emotionally, mentally, and socially.
From symptom flares and medical fatigue to identity shifts, dark humor, grief, resilience, and the quiet victories that keep you going, these episodes reflect real life as it’s actually lived.
This is not a medical podcast. There are no miracle cures and no toxic positivity—just honest reflections, lived experience, and patient-voice storytelling for people living with chronic illness, rare disease, disability, or caring for someone who is.
If you’re learning to live with sarcoidosis, navigating long-term illness, or simply trying to make sense of a body that doesn’t follow the rules anymore—you’re not alone here.
New episodes explore survival, adaptation, and finding meaning in a life that looks different than expected.
Follow the podcast to hear new episodes about living with chronic illness, surviving sarcoidosis, and the small victories that make the journey worthwhile.
Episodes
52 episodes
Vitamin D and Sarcoidosis: Why “Low Vitamin D Causes Inflammation” Headlines Don’t Tell the Whole Story
A new study claims low vitamin D may drive inflammation—but if you live with sarcoidosis, the story gets more complicated. Before reaching for supplements, there’s something important many headlines leave out.
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12:47
The Forgotten Days: What Living With Sarcoidosis Taught Me About the Ordinary Moments Between the Milestones
We remember diagnoses, heartbreaks, and miracles—but what about the quiet days that carry us between them? Living with sarcoidosis has made me realize the most important parts of life might be the ones our memory quietly skips over.
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12:11
Chasing Time: A Story From My Earlier Podcast, Pan to Pen
Welcome to nother bonus episode of short stories from my now closed podcast, "Pan to Pen."
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6:38
The Feather Pillow Lesson: What an Old Story Teaches Us About Words, Reputation, and Living with Sarcoidosis
A simple story about a pillow full of feathers has been told for centuries by rabbis, monks, and priests. I heard it once on the radio and it stuck with me—especially as someone living with sarcoidosis, where words from doctors, strangers, and ...
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11:10
Cardiac Sarcoidosis and Sudden Death: The Disease That Can Hide in Plain Sight
Sometimes sarcoidosis whispers instead of shouts. Someone can appear perfectly healthy, living their life, planning tomorrow… while something dangerous quietly hides in the heart. This episode reflects on a recent tragedy, a strange twis...
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9:31
BONUS EPISODE: Pan To Pen's "Chasing Raindrops"
This bonus short story is from my now closed podcast, "Pan to Pen: A Storytelling Podcast."
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9:09
When Faith Turns Into a Shortcut: Why “Thank You, Jesus” Isn’t Always Enough for Chronic Illness.
I read a lot of chronic illness blogs—part coping strategy, part writerly snooping—and I keep running into the same pattern: the urge to turn suffering into a spiritual trophy. Living with sarcoidosis has taught me faith can be a lifelin...
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15:50
So You Still Think Covid Is Just a Bad Flu? Think Again: Why This Chef With Sarcoidosis Still Wears a Mask
You think Covid was just a bad flu and “done with”? Let me tell you why that belief didn’t exactly age well — especially if you’re someone living with sarcoidosis or any chronic illness where every breath matters. I’ll get personal, a ...
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8:11
BONUS EPISODE: Pan To Pen: Be Patient Cruise
A Bonus story episode from my now closed podcast, "Pan To Pen: A Storytelling Podcast."
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9:32
The High Price of Staying Alive: Sarcoidosis, Chronic Illness, Insurance, and America’s Health Care Circus.
Ever notice how sarcoidosis doesn’t just come for your lungs (or your heart, if it’s feeling ambitious)—it comes for your calendar, your energy, and your bank account too? This is the story of what “good insurance” looks like when the bills hav...
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17:57
When an Editor is A CROOK: A Cautionary Tale for Writers
When you’re a writer with chronic illness juggling deadlines, the last thing you expect is your editor ghosting you mid-contract. This cautionary tale dives into how one “faith-filled” editor turned out to be a crook—and what every writer, espe...
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6:00
BONUS EPISODE: From Pan To Pen: A Chunky Monkey Friendship
This is a bonus episode. A Story from my now closed "Pan to Pen: A Storytelling Podcast"
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10:00
Living With Heart Failure And An AICD
In 2007, a routine heart procedure turned into a life-changing diagnosis: heart failure. Nineteen years later, I’m still here—living with sarcoidosis, a defibrillator in my chest, and the constant awareness that my next heartbeat might depend o...
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14:30
The Real Cost of Breathing: Portable Oxygen, Inogen, and the “Pay-to-Inhale” Price Tag.
Living with sarcoidosis taught me a weird truth: the harder you work to keep your life normal, the more the system charges you for it. Portable oxygen was supposed to mean freedom—walks, errands, road trips, maybe even a little joy—until...
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15:07
When the Bank Meeting Ended in a Truck Bed
Ever wondered what happens when an 18-year-old bank manager gets peer-pressured into a “mandatory meeting” that turns out to be rum shots and card games? Here’s the messy, hilarious, and surprisingly life-defining story of my first and only tim...
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18:22
Gratitude Beats Complaining When Your ICD Is Busy Keeping You Alive (Yes, I Said It)
Living with sarcoidosis and an ICD means my chest has a tiny, judgmental hall monitor clocking my heart 24/7—so I’m fascinated (and slightly alarmed) by how many of us still choose to spend our limited energy angrily shaking our fists at modern...
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16:26
Why My Kindle Will Always Win Over Physical Books
As a chef, writer, and lifelong bookworm living with chronic illness, I’ve discovered that my Kindle isn’t just a gadget—it’s freedom. Between hospital visits, late-night writing sessions, and lazy Sundays with my pets, it lets me carry an enti...
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5:35
Why Cooking Shows Might Be Ruining Dinner (and Your Sanity)
If you’ve ever tried to recreate a TV chef’s “simple” dinner and ended up wondering if you accidentally auditioned for a survival show, you’re not alone. As someone juggling sarcoidosis, heart failure, and a full-time chef life, let’s just say ...
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8:48
Why Self-Worth Isn’t Measured in Dollars: Finding True Value Beyond the Bank Account
In a world obsessed with celebrity net worths and Instagram wealth, it’s easy to forget that our true value isn’t tied to money but to character, compassion, and integrity. As someone living with chronic illness, I’ve learned that self-worth ha...
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6:05
When Faith Becomes a Wall: Choosing Peace Over Painful Family Reunions
When religion divides families, sometimes the kindest thing you can do is stop trying to fix what faith has fractured. As a chef living with chronic illness and a full plate of chaos, I’ve learned that peace is sacred—and you can’t pray someone...
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5:49
Roller Skating With Sarcoidosis: Grieving My Old Body (Without Turning It Into a Life Sentenc
I saw a guy land a ridiculous roller-skating trick in a beach town and my brain immediately volunteered my body for a stunt it absolutely did not agree to. Living with sarcoidosis has taught me that nostalgia can be sweet, savage, and weirdly f...
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14:16
When Strangers Grab Your Phone, And Take A Piece Of Your Life With It
Ever had someone snatch your phone while you were just trying to show them a picture? Twice in one day, it hit me how much of my entire life—accounts, passwords, memories, even my brain power—now lives inside this little iPhone. As a chef with ...
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8:22
How Quitting the News Saved My Sanity (and Why You Might Want to Try It Too)
After years of drowning in headlines, outrage, and “breaking news” pings, I finally unplugged—and discovered that peace, calm, and mental clarity are a lot more satisfying than doomscrolling. Here’s how quitting the news improved my mental heal...
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5:54
When Life Cancels Your Walk and Sends a Rainbow Instead.
A chef living with chronic illness discovers that sometimes life’s soggy disappointments lead to unexpected beauty—like when a canceled dog walk turns into a rainbow moment that slaps you with perspective. A story about resilience, humor, and f...
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4:50