The Only Child Diaries Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Your house can tell the truth about your family in a way conversations never did. I’ve been thinking a lot about grief lately, and about that surprising idea that you can still learn who someone was after they’ve passed away. Living in my parents’ home has made that real for me, not through big dramatic revelations, but through everyday evidence: what got kept, what never got fini...

Send us Fan Mail A tiny bruise on a foot doesn’t sound like a life-altering moment, but when circulation is compromised it can become the start of a medical crisis. I’m Tracy Wallace, and I’m sharing a raw update on my husband Bill’s condition, picking up after our emergency department trip and walking you through what happened next as doctors raced to restore blood flow to his leg. You’ll hear wh...

Send us Fan Mail A hospital hallway is not where anyone expects to spend their day, yet for so many families it has become the new waiting room, the new patient room, and the new backdrop for life-changing news. I’m Tracy Wallace, and I’m sharing a raw snippet from a difficult week as my husband lands back in the hospital, forcing us to make fast decisions, push for the right specialist, and walk...

Send us Fan Mail A nine foot T Rex skeleton looks amazing in a Halloween yard display until you are halfway inside its ribcage, trying to connect tiny wires with sore thumbs, and realizing your “I’ve got this” attitude has officially gone too far. We’re telling the full story of how our latest outdoor Halloween decoration turned into a sweaty DIY adventure, plus the neighbor text that saved the da...

Send us Fan Mail Fifth year of the Only Child Diaries, and life still doesn’t hand out instructions. I’m checking in from the middle of a packed season where caregiving, health appointments, and constant time pressure are all competing for the same tiny slice of energy and focus. One bright spot I refuse to give up is Halloween decorating. I’m talking front-lawn chaos, hauling bins out of the gara...

Send us Fan Mail Your phone rings and a calm voice says your cable is getting cut off today. They sound professional, they drop a specific dollar amount, and they act like this happens all the time. That’s exactly why scam calls work and why we wanted to talk about them out loud, with real examples and real red flags you can use immediately. I’m Tracy Wallace, and I break down the spam and fraud c...

Send us Fan Mail An 8 out of 10 tooth pain will humble you fast. I woke up in the middle of the night with pain shooting through my head, tried Motrin and Orajel, and realized I had to call my dentist the second the office opened. What followed was the kind of adult problem nobody trains you for: making a scary medical decision while you’re anxious, sleep-deprived, and hurting, then walking into t...

Send us Fan Mail Has it really been nine years?  September 7, 2017 is a date I still feel in my body. My husband and I were rear-ended by a drunk driver in Las Vegas, and what should have been a simple vacation moment turned into a dramatic, pivotal memory that never really lets go. I’m re-releasing this story again because “drunk driving” can sound like an abstract warning until it becomes your l...

Send us Fan Mail The first cardiology follow-up after a long hospitalization sounds like a simple box to check, until you’re the one figuring out the wheelchair, the car transfer, the heat, the fatigue, and the portable oxygen all at once. I’m Tracy Wallace, and I’m sharing a candid update on taking my husband, Bill, to his first cardiologist visit after 58 days in the hospital and what that “one...

Send us Fan Mail A house can turn into a mini hospital overnight, and nobody warns you how loud adulthood can get. Between the heat, the air conditioner, and an oxygen concentrator running in the background, I’m trying to sleep while my husband recovers at home and medical equipment takes over our normal routines. Then our dog, Brownie, does something she’s never done before: a strange, short bark...

Send us Fan Mail They tell you “He’s going home today,” and your whole body finally exhales. Then the plan changes. Then it changes again. I’m Tracy Wallace, and I’m sharing what it actually took to get Bill home after 58 days in the hospital, including the oxygen delivery that didn’t happen when we needed it, the new hospitalist who wanted to play it safe, and the tense moment when I had to be th...

Send us Fan Mail A stent can sound straightforward until kidney function enters the chat. I’m sharing a real-time update from day 56 of my husband’s hospital journey, where a nuclear stress test and an abnormal EKG point to heart narrowings that may benefit from stents, but fragile kidneys make the “next obvious step” feel anything but obvious. We talk through what the doctors found, why a treadmi...

Send us Fan Mail Day 45 hits like a trap door: just when Bill seems to be recovering from pneumonia, the swelling returns and an ultrasound reveals a blood clot. I walk you through what it’s like to be the spouse in the chair next to the bed, trying to catch doctors during rounds, translate medical options in real time, and keep a clear head while the plan keeps shifting. We talk thoracentesis, fl...

Send us Fan Mail Day 40 in the hospital is not a milestone you celebrate, it’s a line you cross and realize you’ve been living in a completely different world. I’m Tracy Wallace, and I’m sharing a candid update on my husband’s hospitalization, including his return to the ICU after diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), and the ongoing push to clear pneumonia that keeps making breathing harder than it should...

Send us Fan Mail I walked into the hospital already shaken, and within hours I was standing at an ICU desk hyperventilating because Bill had been sedated and intubated. That’s the kind of week we’re talking about here the moment when “he’s getting stronger in rehab” turns into oxygen alarms, pneumonia, and decisions you never want to make without your person fully awake.  I take you through the ti...

Send us Fan Mail Day 20 hits different when the hospital stay turns into a full-on relocation. Bill is finally recovering and we even have a discharge date, but getting from hospital number two to hospital number three (acute rehab) becomes a four-hour marathon of paperwork, waiting, traffic, valet check-in, and one very humbling reality: we look like a hot mess. I’m talking bracelets still on, an...

Send us Fan Mail A 60/40 blood pressure reading at 11 pm is the kind of number that makes your whole world go quiet. I’m Tracy Wallace, and I’m sharing a very real update on why there was no episode last week: my husband landed in the hospital after a string of scary episodes that looked and sounded like a stroke. He was slurring his speech, not making sense, and completely unlike himself and I ha...

Send us Fan Mail Sports are everywhere, and somehow we’re all expected to have strong opinions, favorite teams, and the stamina to watch a three-hour game on a weeknight. We’re not doing that. We’re getting honest about what it’s like to be a casual sports fan, why some games feel impossible to sit through, and how you can still enjoy the culture without forcing yourself into someone else’s versio...

Send us Fan Mail The part nobody warns you about after a big fundraising event is the second job you inherit the next morning: follow-up. I’m coming off a major work push and trying to climb out of the backlog with unpaid silent auction items, pledge drive confusion, and the urgent need to get revenue in before the fiscal year closes. If you’ve ever stared at your to-do list and thought, “How is t...

Send us Fan Mail If you’ve ever hit the finish line of a huge work project and immediately felt your body power down, you’ll recognize this one. I’m fresh off a major nonprofit fundraising event I led at my agency, and I’m talking candidly about what it means to work hard, work too hard, and then deal with the adrenaline crash that comes after the applause fades. When you’re a perfectionist with h...

Send us Fan Mail “I’m too busy” is the easiest line to say and one of the hardest to hear when you’re the one waiting on a reply. I’m Tracy Wallace, and I’m coming to you from a week where busy isn’t a vibe, it’s a fundraiser deadline, a mountain of details, and the reality of doing more without the administrative backup you wish you had. I talk through what “busy” looks like inside nonprofit even...

Send us Fan Mail Your pride can be louder than your problems, and sometimes it’s the real thing keeping you stuck. I’m Tracy Wallace, and I’m sharing a very real adulting moment from my own house: my husband’s hearing got worse, a hearing test confirmed hearing loss, and suddenly we had to face the next step. Not just the technology, but the feelings that come with it, the quiet denial, the worry...

Send us Fan Mail My cat isn’t “needy” in the cute way. He’s the kind of bonded that makes you rethink your whole schedule. I’m Tracy Wallace, and I’m telling the story of Bubby, my not-so-cuddly rescue cat who somehow became my shadow, my routine, and yes, one of my most codependent relationships. Bubby shows up at our barn like a lot of barn cats do, half-mystery and fully scrappy, collecting nam...

Send us Fan Mail Free time is supposed to feel like relief, so why does it so often feel like another problem to solve? I’m Tracy Wallace, and I’m talking honestly about what happens when work takes up your energy, not just your hours, and you reach the end of the day with nothing left for the life you’re trying to build. If you’ve ever wondered why you can’t “use your weekend better,” this conver...

Send us Fan Mail Your neighborhood tells the truth, even when nobody says a word. On a simple walk around my block, I start noticing the full range of “home life on display” we all live with: the perfect place that looks untouched, the normal houses with leggy plants and brown patches, the flower bed that needs attention. Whether you’re in a single-family home, a condo, or an apartment, the patter...