Living

As with many in the COPD community, I take many medications to help me breathe easier and live longer. Most of these medications have some side effects. Some are mild...

Being claustrophobic means that I have a tough time being constrained. Having COPD certainly doesn’t help. Having been intubated several times, when I wake up with my hands tied to...

Have you been diagnosed with COPD, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease? Do you know someone who has COPD? COPD is the umbrella term for these lung diseases: COPD is a progressive...

“You are your own best advocate!” You hear this a lot in this community because it is true. You ARE your best advocate unless you have someone to advocate for...

The best time of the holidays is when they are over! I know that makes me sound like Scrooge, but I can't help it. I created a monster many years...

Every year I make resolutions. I make the same resolutions year after year. They didn’t work last year, the year before, or the year before. Sabotage, that’s what I do...

Four years ago, I wrote  a post called “Things Not To Say To Someone Living With COPD.” I received many great responses to that post. You shared your ideas. I...

Two weeks after I wrote an article about staying healthy, I sit here writing this and have tested positive for Covid. I am happy that I went for almost three...

As much as I love the holidays, it is always nice to know they are coming to an end. There is too much hustle and bustle and bad weather conditions...

So, we are now entering the new year. Of course, we all make resolutions or ways to improve ourselves. This post is about ideas for the world around us to...

Welcome to another holiday with COPD! Hearing “Happy Holidays” and noting the time of year, I think Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Year. Yet, I’m reminded that our holidays go beyond...

Mom used to say that we put the fun in dysfunctional. When COPD affects your family, it is anything but funny. Oh, we tried to make light of the troubles...

My memory takes me back to a third-grade moment. I am in the bathroom after lunch with some of my classmates. They were talking about Santa and if he was...

Hope: A feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. When I was diagnosed with COPD, I was numb. I had just returned from 5 days of...

It’s that time of the year again. The holly, the ivy, and everything Santa. If you are anything like me, you still strive to have that Norman Rockwell Christmas even...

It’s late November, and we have been fortunate for the late fall weather. It hasn’t been so bad. We had one day with a bit of snow and only a...

Leaving the house means braving the cold air that makes my lungs ache each time I try to inhale. So many episodes of shortness of breath take their toll. As...

One thing we all learned about having COPD is that we must be more careful than others because it could damage our already damaged lungs and make it more challenging...

We are blessed to live in a time when we have access to many things to help people live better with diseases like COPD. Here are some of the things...

This is the most dangerous time of the year for some. If you are like me, depression and anxiety start to have their way with me in the afternoons, just...