Thoughts While Surviving Chronic Illness: Ramblings From a Chef Whose Body Constantly Rebels

Tate Basildon
  • 5.0 (1)
  • HEALTH & FITNESS

Thoughts While Surviving Chronic Illness is a lived-experience podcast about life with sarcoidosis, heart failure, and the strange realities of long-term illness that no one prepares you for. This podcast is for people living with sarcoidosis, navigating chronic illness, managing heart failure, or supporting someone with a rare disease. Hosted by Tate, a private chef living with cardiopulmonary sarcoidosis, this podcast explores what it’s really like to survive chronic illness—not just medically, but emotionally, mentally, and socially. From symptom flares and medical fatigue to identity shifts, dark humor, grief, resilience, and the quiet victories that keep you going, these episodes reflect real life as it’s actually lived. This is not a medical podcast. There are no miracle cures and no toxic positivity—just honest reflections, lived experience, and patient-voice storytelling for people living with chronic illness, rare disease, disability, or caring for someone who is. If you’re learning to live with sarcoidosis, navigating long-term illness, or simply trying to make sense of a body that doesn’t follow the rules anymore—you’re not alone here. New episodes explore survival, adaptation, and finding meaning in a life that looks different than expected. Follow the podcast to hear new episodes about living with chronic illness, surviving sarcoidosis, and the small victories that make the journey worthwhile.

  1. 3D AGO

    The Forgotten Days: What Living With Sarcoidosis Taught Me About the Ordinary Moments Between the Milestones

    We remember diagnoses, heartbreaks, and miracles—but what about the quiet days that carry us between them? Living with sarcoidosis has made me realize the most important parts of life might be the ones our memory quietly skips over. Send a text This podcast is narrated using an AI voice. The words, reflections, and lived experience are my own. If you’d like to share a quick thought about the episode, you can text the show using the link in the episode notes. I read every message, but I can’t reply by text because your number is blocked to protect your privacy. If you’d like a reply, or want to share more about your experience with sarcoidosis or chronic illness, please use the contact form at tatebasildon.com. I’m not able to respond to solicitations or outside project requests.

    13 min

  2. 6D AGO

    Chasing Time: A Story From My Earlier Podcast, Pan to Pen

    Welcome to nother bonus episode of short stories from my now closed podcast, "Pan to Pen." Send a text This podcast is narrated using an AI voice. The words, reflections, and lived experience are my own. If you’d like to share a quick thought about the episode, you can text the show using the link in the episode notes. I read every message, but I can’t reply by text because your number is blocked to protect your privacy. If you’d like a reply, or want to share more about your experience with sarcoidosis or chronic illness, please use the contact form at tatebasildon.com. I’m not able to respond to solicitations or outside project requests.

    7 min

  3. MAR 12

    The Feather Pillow Lesson: What an Old Story Teaches Us About Words, Reputation, and Living with Sarcoidosis

    A simple story about a pillow full of feathers has been told for centuries by rabbis, monks, and priests. I heard it once on the radio and it stuck with me—especially as someone living with sarcoidosis, where words from doctors, strangers, and even ourselves can linger longer than we realize. But the real lesson in the story isn’t what you think. Send a text This podcast is narrated using an AI voice. The words, reflections, and lived experience are my own. If you’d like to share a quick thought about the episode, you can text the show using the link in the episode notes. I read every message, but I can’t reply by text because your number is blocked to protect your privacy. If you’d like a reply, or want to share more about your experience with sarcoidosis or chronic illness, please use the contact form at tatebasildon.com. I’m not able to respond to solicitations or outside project requests.

    12 min

  4. MAR 10

    Cardiac Sarcoidosis and Sudden Death: The Disease That Can Hide in Plain Sight

    Sometimes sarcoidosis whispers instead of shouts. Someone can appear perfectly healthy, living their life, planning tomorrow… while something dangerous quietly hides in the heart. This episode reflects on a recent tragedy, a strange twist of fate, and the thin line between what doctors find… and what they don’t. Send a text This podcast is narrated using an AI voice. The words, reflections, and lived experience are my own. If you’d like to share a quick thought about the episode, you can text the show using the link in the episode notes. I read every message, but I can’t reply by text because your number is blocked to protect your privacy. If you’d like a reply, or want to share more about your experience with sarcoidosis or chronic illness, please use the contact form at tatebasildon.com. I’m not able to respond to solicitations or outside project requests.

    10 min

  5. MAR 7

    BONUS EPISODE: Pan To Pen's "Chasing Raindrops"

    This bonus short story is from my now closed podcast, "Pan to Pen: A Storytelling Podcast." Send a text This podcast is narrated using an AI voice. The words, reflections, and lived experience are my own. If you’d like to share a quick thought about the episode, you can text the show using the link in the episode notes. I read every message, but I can’t reply by text because your number is blocked to protect your privacy. If you’d like a reply, or want to share more about your experience with sarcoidosis or chronic illness, please use the contact form at tatebasildon.com. I’m not able to respond to solicitations or outside project requests.

    10 min

  6. MAR 5

    When Faith Turns Into a Shortcut: Why “Thank You, Jesus” Isn’t Always Enough for Chronic Illness.

    I read a lot of chronic illness blogs—part coping strategy, part writerly snooping—and I keep running into the same pattern: the urge to turn suffering into a spiritual trophy. Living with sarcoidosis has taught me faith can be a lifeline, but it can also become a convenient little crutch… the kind that looks holy while quietly stealing your agency. This one might make you laugh, sigh, or clutch your pearls—possibly all three. Send a text This podcast is narrated using an AI voice. The words, reflections, and lived experience are my own. If you’d like to share a quick thought about the episode, you can text the show using the link in the episode notes. I read every message, but I can’t reply by text because your number is blocked to protect your privacy. If you’d like a reply, or want to share more about your experience with sarcoidosis or chronic illness, please use the contact form at tatebasildon.com. I’m not able to respond to solicitations or outside project requests.

    17 min

  7. MAR 3

    So You Still Think Covid Is Just a Bad Flu? Think Again: Why This Chef With Sarcoidosis Still Wears a Mask

    You think Covid was just a bad flu and “done with”? Let me tell you why that belief didn’t exactly age well — especially if you’re someone living with sarcoidosis or any chronic illness where every breath matters. I’ll get personal, a little sarcastic, and explain why I still mask up even when the world says “move along.” Send a text This podcast is narrated using an AI voice. The words, reflections, and lived experience are my own. If you’d like to share a quick thought about the episode, you can text the show using the link in the episode notes. I read every message, but I can’t reply by text because your number is blocked to protect your privacy. If you’d like a reply, or want to share more about your experience with sarcoidosis or chronic illness, please use the contact form at tatebasildon.com. I’m not able to respond to solicitations or outside project requests.

    9 min

  8. FEB 28

    BONUS EPISODE: Pan To Pen: Be Patient Cruise

    A Bonus story episode from my now closed podcast, "Pan To Pen: A Storytelling Podcast." Send a text This podcast is narrated using an AI voice. The words, reflections, and lived experience are my own. If you’d like to share a quick thought about the episode, you can text the show using the link in the episode notes. I read every message, but I can’t reply by text because your number is blocked to protect your privacy. If you’d like a reply, or want to share more about your experience with sarcoidosis or chronic illness, please use the contact form at tatebasildon.com. I’m not able to respond to solicitations or outside project requests.

    10 min
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About

Thoughts While Surviving Chronic Illness is a lived-experience podcast about life with sarcoidosis, heart failure, and the strange realities of long-term illness that no one prepares you for. This podcast is for people living with sarcoidosis, navigating chronic illness, managing heart failure, or supporting someone with a rare disease. Hosted by Tate, a private chef living with cardiopulmonary sarcoidosis, this podcast explores what it’s really like to survive chronic illness—not just medically, but emotionally, mentally, and socially. From symptom flares and medical fatigue to identity shifts, dark humor, grief, resilience, and the quiet victories that keep you going, these episodes reflect real life as it’s actually lived. This is not a medical podcast. There are no miracle cures and no toxic positivity—just honest reflections, lived experience, and patient-voice storytelling for people living with chronic illness, rare disease, disability, or caring for someone who is. If you’re learning to live with sarcoidosis, navigating long-term illness, or simply trying to make sense of a body that doesn’t follow the rules anymore—you’re not alone here. New episodes explore survival, adaptation, and finding meaning in a life that looks different than expected. Follow the podcast to hear new episodes about living with chronic illness, surviving sarcoidosis, and the small victories that make the journey worthwhile.

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