Tonya Hidalgo

For those who use oxygen to help manage their COPD, the tube line can often pose a bit of a problem. If you're not careful with your oxygen line, just...

Recently my family took a trip to the beach. As we were walking on the beach, I thought about how much my mom loved it there. Unfortunately, she didn’t go very...

As a caregiver, you need to stay calm. Being the calm person in the room can be incredibly helpful for your loved one as he/she is trying to recover from...

It is no secret that anxiety goes hand in hand with COPD as symptoms worsen.  Once the shortness of breath, or dyspnea, becomes severe enough to cause fear, dealing with...

I live close to Charlotte, NC, and while the riots were occurring, I thought about what it would have been like if mom had been with me during that time...

Sometimes flare-ups seem to blindside the progress you have been making, and they come out of nowhere with a staggering punch.  There may be times that you can’t pinpoint the...

If you have recently been diagnosed with COPD, you may be wondering: The short answer is, you should live. My mom used to say, "Do all you can do, and...

Recently I had to listen to reason and go to the Emergency Room.  It was something that I've never thought I would have do, but the situation was scary enough that...

It’s that time of year again, time to make a list of resolutions for the year ahead.  Maybe you have done this a hundred times.  I know that I have...

The holidays are here, and if you are like my family, we love this time of year. The last few years have not been as festive due to missing family...

As I get older, it’s easier to see that some of the things in life that I thought mattered really don’t matter that much at all.  Material things come and...

November is COPD Awareness Month. It is a time that many of us will collectively bring more awareness about this disease to the people who really have no idea about...

I hope you will take this in the fun that it is intended. I was just thinking about my mom and her sense of humor, and I wondered, if she...

Over the last few weeks, we have been focusing on getting prepared to homeschool our son for Kindergarten. We have been homeschooling him for preschool all along, but it is...

My "day job" is in the television industry. I have worked behind the scenes for twenty (plus) years in either the production (technical) side or as a producer. There are...

It's safe to say that not all caregivers agree on how to take care of their loved ones. This can pose a few serious problems, especially as COPD progresses. At first...

Sometimes you need to make happy moments. With the heaviness of dealing with COPD, it may seem like they are few and far between. That is when it is all...

Have you seen the new craze? The only way these could cause stress is if you just cannot bare the thoughts of mistakenly coloring outside the lines. I have never...

Caregivers: Maybe you’ve heard of being proactive.  In simple terms, being proactive is thinking ahead.  An example of being proactive would be ordering medications a week or two before they...

When I was a teenager, I remember many times that my mom would tell me that I needed an "attitude adjustment." At the time, it was hard to understand why...