19-23 Days 'til Trea, #3: A Day in the Life
Feb. 1, 2026 When I began writing this blog post it was not a great breathing day. That morning I got up, did my normal routine of coffee, play with the dogs, breathing treatment, & breakfast. During that entire time I actually felt pretty good and even better, I was breathing very well. . . And then I wasn’t. After breakfast I plopped down on the sofa to watch the morning news and the sensation of my airways clamping down tight, allowing the very least amount of air as possi
25 Days to Go: Up Your Level
25 Days: Up Your Level Living with chronic illness and a rare degenerative respiratory disease offers pretty special and specific challenges. They test your strength in ways you never imagined possible. They make you question everything you ever thought you knew about life, love, friendships, health, success and even failures. They make you aware of time in a way that others simply can not grasp, unless of course they are dealing with their own long-term illness or something
26 Days to Go: Wrapped Up
Hello everyone. As I told you all a few weeks ago I've managed to hop back on the crazy train of TBM, not that I ever get off of it, but there are moments where it isn't a bullet train traveling at the speed of life, taking away my breath & making it impossible to take in life's beautiful scenery. As of today, it's 26 days until I go back in for my 3rd tracheobronchoplasty (TBP) , which I'm naming Trea; the first was named The Big Remodel, the second, The Big Redo. I've named
Back on the TBM Crazy Train
I’ve managed to hop back on the crazy train of TBM. In September 2025, I had my routine yearly bronchoscopy. I was prepared for him to tell me there was some collapse, thinking it would be in my cervical trachea, which is the only area of my respiratory system that’s not collapsing. I wasn’t prepared for what he actually told me. Good news – my cervical trachea is fully in tact! However, my trachea and right bronchus were moderately collapsing and my left bronchus is pretty m
Firsts and Then Some: Part 2
What do you know, a second blog post in as many days! I realized there were some more firsts that I wanted to talk about, so here we go....
Firsts and Then Some
Since moving back to Missouri in June I've been experiencing quite a few firsts. (Oh, did you know I moved from Colorado to Missouri?...
What's Going On . . .
Happy New Year and hello friends! It’s been a while - again - since my last post. I should be more reliable with these updates than I...
FEAR
"Were you scared?" Out of the blue the words popped up on the lower right side of my computer screen in the tiny Facebook Messenger box....
How Time Flies!
Oh my goodness! I cannot believe how long it's been since I've been able to sit down and write to you friends. This year has just gotten...
And Still I Fight . . . .
Fighting. For the last six years fighting seems to be all I have done. Fighting to keep my lovely little shop open through some very...