Surviving Chronic Illness: Life in a Body That Rebels
Surviving Chronic Illness: Life in a Body That Rebels is a lived experience podcast about surviving sarcoidosis, heart failure, rare disease, and the strange daily reality of having a body that does not always cooperate.
Hosted by Tate, a private chef, writer, husband, pet parent, and long-term sarcoidosis survivor, this podcast is not about miracle cures, medical lectures, or pretending that a positive attitude fixes everything. It is about the honest middle of chronic illness: the fatigue, fear, grief, humor, stubbornness, absurdity, and small victories that come with surviving day after day.
These are first-person stories about illness, identity, marriage, work, memory, resilience, and learning how to live inside a life that changed without asking permission. Some episodes are reflective. Some are funny. Some are angry. Some are tender. All of them come from the lived experience of someone still figuring it out in real time.
This podcast is for people living with chronic illness, sarcoidosis, rare disease, heart failure, autoimmune conditions, invisible illness, or any body that feels like it has gone off-script. It is also for caregivers, spouses, family members, and friends who want to better understand what illness feels like from the inside.
If you are tired of toxic positivity, pity, miracle-cure noise, and being told to “just stay strong,” you are in the right place.
This is a podcast for the sick, the tired, the stubborn, the scared, the sarcastic, the hopeful, and everyone trying to build a life in a body that rebels.
Surviving Chronic Illness: Life in a Body That Rebels
Latest Episodes
The Day the Hospital Treated Me Like a Human Being
Hospital visits can start to feel like rehearsed disappointment when you live with sarcoidosis, heart failure, and the long, exhausting reality of chronic illness. I know that feeling well. So when I went to Westchester Medical Center for a rig...
MiniCast: Stop Saying You’re Allergic to Bees (When You’re Really Just Terrified of Nature)
Ever wonder why everyone suddenly claims they’re “allergic to bees”? In this cheeky yet heartfelt take from a chef living with chronic illness, I explore what our bee phobia really says about fear, faith, and city folks who panic at pollen. Spo...
Why I Don’t Say I Suffer From Sarcoidosis
The words we use for chronic illness matter more than most people realize. In this episode, I reflect on a question my wife asked back in 2011, a question that changed the way I talk about sarcoidosis, heart failure, and illness itself. I share...
When Spring Returns to a Chronically Ill Body
Spring has a way of looking hopeful while also trying to crawl directly into your sinuses. In this episode, I talk about what it means to live with sarcoidosis, heart issues, and the shifting realities of chronic illness through the seasons. Th...
MiniCast: The Day I Danced with a Monarch: A Reminder That Nature Still Wins
After a week of rain and gray skies, I stepped outside and found myself face-to-face with a monarch butterfly—a rare, breathtaking sight that reminded me why we let dandelions grow and bees buzz in our yard. Here's why moments like these mean e...
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