Private Chef, Writer & Podcaster
After years of battling sarcoidosis and heart failure, I’ve realized that “sick” is just a word—and it doesn’t define me. Between migraines, acupuncture needles, and medical humor that borders on dark roast, I’m still standing, breathing, and occasionally brisk-walking on flat ground.
Growing up with childhood trauma and overwhelming guilt after witnessing my step-father’s heart attack shaped everything—from how I curse, to how I cook, to how I manage chronic illness today. While emotional suppression can increase stress, inflammation, and heart risk, meditation, humor, cooking, and selective profanity helped me survive. If you’ve ever carried guilt, wrestled with grief, or learned to cope quietly, this story will remind you that you’re not the villain—you’re surviving with heart.
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 how I stopped whining, started adapting, and found a strange kind of peace in just getting on with it.
Chronic illness, wait‐rooms and “halfalogue” stress: as a chef living with sarcoidosis and heart failure I’ve learned that overhearing speaker-phone calls isn’t just annoying—it adds cognitive load, heightens cardiovascular risk, and drains creativity. If you’re juggling chronic illness or writing your debut novel, here’s why you’ll want to resist the roar of public monologues and reclaim your mental fuel.
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 like gambling with your health—and your sanity.
Tate Basildon 