Tonya Hidalgo

If you have been recently diagnosed with COPD, you may be feeling like you can't do anything that you used to do. There is a mystery behind the new label...

There are many different reasons that you may become short of breath, and if you are just beginning to learn about COPD, you may be wondering what could be your...

Deciding that you are willing to try for a lung transplant is only the beginning. Finding yourself in the middle of the process brings about loads of stress. Then receiving...

After you have been approved for a lung transplant you will begin the process of getting your finances, logistics and plans nailed down.  It is important that you have a...

This is a question that I can answer from personal experience. In 2009, mom was given the opportunity to go through a thorough evaluation at the Duke Transplant Center at...

Once you have been accepted into the evaluation process, you will be scheduled for tests ranging from physical therapy assessment to heart catheterization. Each test is important and must be...

During your lung transplant evaluation, you will meet with a large team of physicians, social workers, physical therapists, psychologists and dietitians. It is easy for that one idea to become...

Maybe you have heard of someone going through a transplant or maybe you have contributed financially to help someone else. However, I imagine that you never thought you would be...

Once you have been accepted into the lung transplant evaluation process, you will go through extensive testing. In the initial meetings with the team, you will learn what is expected...

Are you the type of person that leans into the medical help that is provided, or are you the type that runs away as fast as possible?  Maybe you have...

Just before my mom was diagnosed with COPD, I was living in Central Florida working my dream job, at Disney World. Every day I was busy making guests laugh and...

This year has gone by so fast.  Maybe it’s because I’m getting older, and maybe it’s because I had to just put my head down and push through it all...

Patients with COPD will have to endure countless blood draws over the course of their lives.  For most, this is uncomfortable, but it can be tolerated.  For others, it seems...

I remember one year when my mom planted almost three hundred tulip bulbs in my grandmother’s yard and some in her yard.  She loved to be outside, with her hands...

As a co-caregiver for my mom, I thought about her health constantly. I spent countless days thinking about what I should do, wondering if there was anything else that I...

We were recently cleaning out our garage, and we came across a board game that had been the Sunday afternoon activity with my mom, just after my husband and I...

When you dig deep into your memories, there are core memories that stand out. They are the ones that you could never imagine forgetting. Maybe it was your wedding day...

As if the symptoms of COPD are not enough to deal with on their own, you also have to deal with medical bills and insurance companies.  Just when it seems...

There is a discussion that needs to take place, before it needs to take place.  Honestly, I wish that I had pushed this conversation years before we needed the information...

There may come a time when you need to call 911 for help, but how do you know if you should call or drive your loved one with COPD to...