30 Things I Am Thankful For

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. And there are so many things COPD-related I am thankful for. Here is a list of 30 of them.

Access to care

1. Our modern era. We all live in the best of times as far as medicine is concerned. For most of history, people did not have access to medicine to help us breathe easier. Today, we have access to many great medicines.
2. Doctors. They have helped me so much over the years. And they have the wisdom to help you feel better.
3. Nurses. They are so helpful for helping you feel better.
4. My fellow respiratory therapists. They do their part to help me help you breathe easier.
5. Emergency rooms.
6. Emergency room doctors.

Medication and therapies

7. BiPAP. I know that this is not the most comfortable therapy. But, it is something that works so well at helping my patients with COPD breathe easier.
8. Modern BiPAP machines. A good example here is the Trilogy. These are BiPAP machines that are so comfortable and work so well, that they are very tolerable for my patients.
9. Corticosteroids. They help reduce airway inflammation and end COPD and asthma flare-ups.
10. Inhaled corticosteroids. They help keep our airways calm and prevent flare-ups.
11. Combination inhalers. These make it so you can take 2 or 3 medicines at the same time, Rather than needing to take many puffs many times a day. This makes it so much easier to stay compliant with your COPD treatment regimen.
12. Inhalers. I could name them all if you want. I do in my article "A list of all inhalers". Although, ever since that article so many more inhalers have been introduced to the market. So, there are many to choose from.
13. Albuterol. This is one of the greatest respiratory medicine of all time.

Different nebulizers

14. Nebulizers. They help you inhale respiratory medicine over a period of five to 20 minutes. And they help you control and reverse symptoms. They are perhaps one of the best medical inventions ever.
15. Jet nebulizers. Along with inhalers, they allow us to inhale respiratory medicine.
16. Portable nebulizers. They allow you to inhale respiratory medicine anywhere at any time.
17. Mesh nebulizers. They are small nebulizers the size of an iPhone. They require no tubing and are so quiet they won't even wake up the sleeping kids.
18. Ampules. These make it easy to store liquid respiratory medicine. You open them up and dump the medicine into your nebulizer. They used to be made of glass. The modern ones are made of plastic and are so easy to open.

Advancements in treatment

19. Pipeline. I am thankful for all the medicines that are currently in the pipeline. One of these medicines is a medicine that works like steroids but without all the unwanted side effects. So, we are hopeful that some of this pan out.
20. COPD researchers. They are on a mission to learn as much as they can about our disease. They yearn to discover newer and better COPD medicines. Their ultimate goal is to find a way to prevent our children from ever getting it. And they are searching for an ultimate cure.
21. Long-acting medicine. Older respiratory medicines required up to 4 puffs 4 times a day, and sometimes more often than that. This made it hard to stay compliant. Today, most respiratory medicine lasts 12 to 24 hours. This means you only need to take 1 or 2 puffs once or twice daily. Nice.
22. Genetics. Do you know that genetic research did not begin until the 1980s? And since then researchers have learned so much. Genetics is what may lead to the next best treatment for COPD. And it is this study that may likely lead to a cure. It may be a while longer, but this is a true possibility.

My history

23. My asthma history. Sure, it hasn't always been easy for me. Still, having asthma gives me the empathy to help me understand what you are going through. And, I think, this has helped me become the respiratory therapist that I am today.

The COPD community

24. All of my awesome COPD patients. You guys are so awesome.
25. All the great conversations we have had. I think we have covered every topic over the years.
26. The humor. So many of you are so funny. So many times you have made my day by making me laugh.
27. The Internet. This made it possible for all of us to get together in one place. It made it possible for people like me to start blogging and sharing our stories. It made it possible for us to advocate on behalf of COPD from the comfort of our own homes. We can even do this when experiencing symptoms. It's also entertainment. And it made it possible for the birth of great COPD communities like COPD.net
28. The blogosphere. This made it so people like you and me can tell our stories. They allow us to advocate on behalf of our disease.
29. COPD advocates. They help get the word out about COPD
30. COPD.net. Thank you to all who created this great community.

I could list more. Although, I figured I'd let you finish my list. What are things COPD-related you are thankful for? Please let us know in the comments below.

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