Private Chef, Writer & Podcaster
Ever waited for a blog post like it was your favorite dish at a slow-cooking restaurant? This chronic illness chef with sarcoidosis doesn’t post daily—and that’s okay. Here’s why blog consistency isn’t the cure-all, especially when life, health, and heart failure come to dinner uninvited. (Yes, it’s called chronic illness for a reason.)
Waking up to heart failure, sarcoidosis, and a life sentence of meds wasn’t in my five-year plan. Neither was an implantable defibrillator with discontinued leads that could’ve killed me. Here’s how one month of stubborn hesitation saved my life. Chronic illness, heart failure, and sarcoidosis survivors—this one’s for you.
A reader wrote to me with a blunt question: how the hell am I still alive and semi functional with sarcoidosis, heart failure, and a heart that occasionally tries to be creative with rhythm Just between us the answer is far more chaotic and heartfelt than any clinical chart will ever show Sarcoidosis taught me to take every prognosis with salt and faith and maybe a dash of rebellion
Living with heart failure and sarcoidosis means my heart sometimes behaves like an untrained sous-chef—dropping beats, burning the sauce, and sending everyone into panic mode. After a surprise fibrillation episode, some extra beats, and a cardiologist who ambushed me with a flu shot before I could protest, I’m trying to stay calm, breathe, and avoid yet another hospital stay.
Someone decided my take on living with sarcoidosis was “too upbeat,” like I’m out here harmonizing with woodland creatures while my body runs a nonstop group project I didn’t sign up for. But if you’ve ever tried to stay afloat in chronic illness while strangers critique your coping skills, you already know the real story isn’t about pretending—it’s about refusing to let misery run the whole kitchen…
Tate Basildon 