I’m a narrative journalist based in New York. I write essays and reported pieces about health that center on the emotional experience of being a patient, whatever that word may mean to the person I am interviewing. I’m interested in stories of preventive care, diagnosis, treatment, recovery, loss and grief.
My story of diagnosis and care started in 2020, when I tested positive for a BRCA1 gene mutation. This means my chance of developing ovarian cancer is about 40 percent over my lifetime, compared to 1 percent for the average person with ovaries, and my chance of developing breast cancer is as high as 72 percent. I also have a congenital condition called pectus excavatum, Latin for caved-in chest. I hope that by writing about my experiences, I am able to reach readers who are going through something similar, and who might benefit from reading my words.
In 2024, I completed a master’s program in narrative medicine at Columbia University.
Previously, I worked as a food writer and editor at the Chicago Tribune. Before that, I was a features editor at Time Out Chicago, where I planned and edited longform and packaged features for the weekly print magazine.
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Photo by Letícia Almeida