MUSIC & RADIO SAVED MY LIFE

A story of living with invisible illness

Pat Franc

I’m currently 55 years old and have been suffering from aggressive and degenerative autoimmune diseases since 1992. I was 22 years old when symptoms of inflammation first appeared overnight in my left knee. I was diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis. My life changed overnight, although I did not know that at the time. Full Story

My goal with this site is to increase awareness and understanding of invisible diseases. For details, please see my full mission statement.

Were it not for the inspiration of MUSIC, I don't think I would be here today. Music helped me get through some of my darkest days. It has been critical to my survival. Therefore, every chapter in this BLOG will be musically themed. I hope you enjoy reading and listening.

January 11, 2026

Chapter 58: Hold Me Close

Living with a degenerative autoimmune disease since age 21, the author has undergone six surgeries and is no stranger to pain or recovery, but an upcoming reverse shoulder replacement on January 26 feels different. Unlike previous hip surgeries—familiar territory—this operation will immobilize his dominant arm for six weeks, exposing how fragile independence can be, especially while living alone. Faced with uncertain post-op support, a long and painful recovery, months of physiotherapy, and unpredictable outcomes for range of motion, he confronts not just physical limits but emotional ones as well.

September 5, 2025

Chapter 57: OH...The Humanity

This chapter reflects on my 55th birthday visit to the World Press Photo exhibit in Montreal, where haunting images of famine, war, and homelessness underscored the vast suffering endured globally—in Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine, and beyond—contrasted with the comforts of Western life. Grappling with guilt over a $170 dinner, my wife and I question inequality, the futility of small gestures, and humanity’s failure to equitably share resources, while also drawing perspective from my own decades-long battle with chronic illness. Ultimately, I'm warning that crises born of war, famine, capitalism, and the looming disruption of AI all point toward a bleak, destabilized future unless humanity finds the will to change.

July 26, 2025

Chapter 56: The Gaza Famine is "man-made"

This week, after watching NewsNight with Abby Phillip on CNN, I was appalled by Scott Jennings’ deflections during a segment on Gaza, where he continued his shameless defence of Trump-era talking points even as Peter Beinart—an American Jewish intellectual—called out the U.S. and Israel for their complicity in the starvation of Palestinian civilians. Beinart’s courage to speak out, particularly through his new book Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza, was a stark contrast to Jennings’ hollow rhetoric. The situation is heartbreaking and enraging, especially when pundits like Jennings reduce it to political gamesmanship. It reminded me of Live Aid in 1985—flawed but driven by good intentions—and how the world came together to confront a famine. We need that kind of global unity and moral clarity again, only this time with proper oversight to ensure aid reaches those who need it. Gaza doesn’t need more spin—it needs food, justice, and a new Bob Geldof.

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