"Surviving Chronic Illness" is now "A Body Rebels"

Episodes

10
July 24, 2026

Chronic Illness and Hope: Why Positivity Isn’t Pretending

In this episode, I talk about an email accusing me of sounding too positive to be believable. I’m looking at why hope doesn’t erase pain, why gratitude isn’t denial, and why sick people shouldn’t have to perform despair to prove they’re suffering. I share what fear, breathlessness, fatigue, medical trauma, and uncertainty actually feel like in my life, while explaining why humor and warmth are still allowed in the same room. I’m not pretending illness is easy. I’m refusing to let it speak for al...
July 23, 2026

Our New Theme Song: The Emotional Version

A Body Re-Bells has a brand-new sound! In this special episode, I reveal the emotional version of our new original theme song, featuring lyrics written by me especially for the podcast. Listen now and let me know what you think! This podcast is narrated using an AI voice. The words, reflections, and lived experience are my own. Contact A Body Rebels More info about Sarcoidosis and to donate toward research: The Foundation For Sarcoidosis Research
July 22, 2026

Our New Theme Song: The Upbeat Version

A Body Re-Bells has a brand-new sound! In this special episode, I reveal the upbeat version of our new original theme song, featuring lyrics written by me especially for the podcast. Listen now and let me know what you think! This podcast is narrated using an AI voice. The words, reflections, and lived experience are my own. Contact A Body Rebels More info about Sarcoidosis and to donate toward research: The Foundation For Sarcoidosis Research
9
July 21, 2026

Chronic Illness, Anger, and Finding the Right Kind of Therapy

I’m talking about the assumptions people made about my mental health after I became seriously ill, and why sadness, grief, anger, and depression aren’t interchangeable. I share what happened when my first therapist insisted on treating a diagnosis I didn’t recognize in myself, and how Buddhist and shamanic psychotherapy later helped me examine illness, resentment, guilt, childhood wounds, and self-blame. This episode isn’t an argument against conventional therapy. It’s about finding an approach,...
8
July 17, 2026

Outliving a Chronic Illness Prognosis

In this episode, I talk about what it felt like to hear doctors put numbers on my future, then keep living past the dates that once scared me. I’m reflecting on stage four sarcoidosis, heart failure, scarred lungs, medical uncertainty, and the strange math of planning a life when no one can promise how much time is waiting. This isn’t a miracle story. It’s about fear, adaptation, dark humor, and the ordinary days that feel different when I wasn’t sure I’d reach them. This podcast is narrated us...
7
July 14, 2026

Kindness in Healthcare and Chronic Illness Care

In this episode, I’m talking about kindness in healthcare, bedside manner, chronic illness care, and why the emotional side of medical appointments can follow me long after I leave the room. Living with sarcoidosis means I’ve spent years around scans, charts, vitals, instructions, and waiting rooms, but I also remember tone, patience, eye contact, and small moments of steadiness. I’m thinking through why basic kindness is not a luxury in medical care, especially when my body is already tired bef...
6
July 10, 2026

The Fake Chinese Song That Became a Chronic Illness Poem

In this episode, I’m talking about a silly song I sing to my dogs, a language I don’t actually speak, and the strange AI surprise that came back when I finally let technology listen. I’m reflecting on ancestry, imagination, chronic illness, memory, and the little rituals that sneak into daily life when my body is tired but my mind is still wandering. It starts with puppies, a tug toy, and nonsense sounds, but it opens a door I didn’t expect. This podcast is narrated using an AI voice. The wor...
5
July 7, 2026

Childhood Memories, Chronic Illness, and the Cousin I Never Forgot

In this episode, I talk about my cousin Jenny, a childhood memory I’ve carried for more than fifty years, and the way grief can return through laughter before it ever knows what to do with itself. I’m reflecting on family distance, ovarian cancer, chronic illness, and what it feels like when my body keeps me far from a goodbye I wish I could attend. It’s about cousins, memory, regret, love, and the strange little details that keep people alive inside us. This podcast is narrated using an AI voi...
4
July 3, 2026

Chronic Illness, Mortality, and Never Leaving Angry

In this episode, I talk about an ordinary drive home that turned into a quiet reminder of how fragile life can be. I’m reflecting on a young neighbor’s sudden death, the strange grief of witnessing loss from a distance, and the promise my wife and I made never to leave each other angry. I also talk about chronic illness, uncertainty, marriage, and why small goodbyes deserve more care than we usually give them. This podcast is narrated using an AI voice. The words, reflections, and lived experie...
3
June 30, 2026

Race-Colored Glasses and the Stories We Tell Ourselves

Sometimes the smallest details in a story say more than the story itself. In this reflective episode, I talk about the way people describe strangers, the racial details they choose to include, and the quiet assumptions that can slip into everyday storytelling. This is a personal, conversational look at bias, fear, self-awareness, and the uncomfortable gap between what people believe about themselves and what their words sometimes reveal before they’ve had a chance to notice. This podcast is nar...