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COPD - Not a life choice but a life change

I remember when I was first diagnosed with COPD. I was actually a little surprised because I’d already quit smoking five years prior to my diagnosis and didn’t have any health issues. I do find those five years to be quite precious, just as I find my current life and future to be precious.

When I got my diagnosis, I figured it was time to learn. One of the first things I noticed was that primary care physicians may not know a lot about COPD. They can use the symptoms to get a diagnosis and they can prescribe all the recommended medications, but as far as basic knowledge, in a lot of cases, they seem to be lacking.

That’s why I learned early on to figure out my new needs so that rather than being blindsided by COPD, I could instead live with it and generate the best quality of life possible. The first things I did this year was to begin getting flu shots and pneumonia shots as well. I’ve also learned that when I catch a cold, it can turn into a full blown COPD exacerbation, and it can take months rather than a few days to weeks to get rid of the symptoms.

Because of this, my doctor and I decided that I make an appointment at the first sign of illness, even if they can’t prescribe much in the beginning. Usually we determine if I might need steroids or more aggressive treatments depending on how my breathing is going. And we keep the appointments fairly regular until the situation is resolved.

My point here is that when one is diagnosed with COPD, we must make changes to lifestyle and how we deal with setbacks. It’s our future at stake and we cannot let our chronic disease stop us from a fulfilling life.

In my case, my COPD is fairly mild, except when I catch a cold. So far, other irritants in the air don’t set off an Exacerbation. And I only use oxygen at night along with my CPAP machine in between bouts. So I consider myself lucky and extremely happy that I quit smoking when I did. After all, it could have been much worse!

So I think those that have this chronic problem must first accept it and then deal with it as we learn. For me, the learning is the same learning that I did to quit smoking. It’s simply a change to our lives and in most cases the objective is to keep damage to a minimum as the illness progresses.

Just thought I’d post this for any that might be interested, and was curious as to what others do to deal with their COPD problems.

ONWARD TO FREEDOM!!!

Chuck

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4 Replies
TerrieQuit
Member

Thank you, Chuck, very interesting!

It is definitely not helpful to try to deal with a flare up on your own. I was doing great until the flu (yes I had a shot) jumped in and things went downhill very quickly! The flu left but I had already gotten pneumonia (had a shot for that too) and bronchitis with that chronic coughing came. I am still recuperating and this started about 3 months ago! Today is the last day of antibiotics so I will probably call them again if it's still hanging around on Monday.

It is definitely not helpful to try to deal with a flare up on your own. I was doing great until the flu (yes I had a shot) jumped in and things went downhill very quickly! The flu left but I had already gotten pneumonia (had a shot for that too) and bronchitis with that chronic coughing came. I am still recuperating and this started about 3 months ago! Today is the last day of antibiotics so I will call them again if it's still hanging around on Monday. The steroids were gone 5 days ago. Sometimes they make me feel like a pain! I like my Dr. but I may need to find a new one.  ~Terrie~

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JustSharon
Member

Hi Chuck, my COPD is moderate. I was diagnosed with mild about 11 years ago. I didn't even attempt to quit smoking then. A few years back I allowed pneumonia symptoms to go untreated until it ended up in a hospitalization. Now they consider it moderate after all the testing they did. I just hated that blow machine, where you have to blow, blow, blow until you nearly pass out. I have to use oxygen every night and I'm on 3 different inhalers, one being my rescue inhaler. How do I handle it all, acceptance. That came easy for me for some  reason. I just realized how my smoking put me there and it was too late to reverse it. Now I get my shots regular, see the doc often, and accept it all. Just like the quit I've started today, I accept it. Great blog. thanks for sharing

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wlh
Member

Thank you all for posting this information.  I have been diagnosed with mild about 2 months ago.  That is the reason why I quit after 40 plus years.  I had tried a few times in the past and wasn't successful.  So as soon as I found out I started to do my research and was brought here.  Signed up, gave myself a quit date, read, read and read more, changed my quit date of one week more to make sure I was totally prepared,  and here I am on 34 dof.  I truly believe that there is no reason today not to be able to quit with so much out here.  i.e. website alone, lots of info, able to get help or advice so quickly.  All of this and more right at your fingertips!!  It is making it so much easier to do.  I feel like I am not alone in this battle.  I am just sorry that we all had to meet this.

So many, many thanks to all and to today's technology!!

Lynne

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elvan
Member

@Chuck_Quit_2-20-2011 I knew for quite a while that it was likely that I had COPD, but I denied it with everything in me.  I absolutely refused to accept it.  When I had my last really severe bout with pneumonia and a real live exacerbation of COPD, I couldn't deny how close I came to not surviving.  I will never forget how hard it was to breathe, how hard it was to get enough breath in to cough.  That was over three years ago.  I have been on steroids for more than 25 years for my Rheumatoid Arthritis so when I get sick, by the time I realize it, I can be REALLY sick because the steroids mask my symptoms.  I really think I got lucky to really accept my diagnosis and stop smoking, start avoiding irritants that I might inhale, eating right, exercising (which I always did), and making a serious commitment to do everything I can to never see my family look like they looked when I was so sick.  I am fully aware of the fact that my COPD is bad enough that it will probably be on my death certificate but I am doing everything I can to postpone that inevitability. 

Thanks for sharing your story.

Ellen