Living

Okay, it’s something we don’t like to talk about, but we really should. How is the intimacy in your home? Over the past eleven years since being diagnosed with Alpha-1...

I have battled being underweight or overweight all my life, shuffling between too small or too big. I intensely focus on input and output, or what I should eat and...

Editor's note: This is part 2 of a series. Be sure to check out part 1 and part 3! Where do I even begin? Packing for me is worse than...

“I felt so good I just flat out forgot my medicine!” said a COPD patient of mine from out of town. He was referring to his nebulizer and rescue inhaler...

Editor's note: This is part 1 of a series. Be sure to check out part 2 and part 3! Well, it's that time of year again, time for our second...

As humans, we were slow to understand how delicate and precious our lungs really are. From our gestation age to environment and lifestyle choices, almost everything we do in our...

The Media Habits Survey is now closed. Thank you for your interest! Managing a chronic condition is not easy and can be physically and mentally exhausting. What types of media...

What do you love doing that makes you forget about your illness? Do you have feelings of, “I can’t do this, because of anxiety?” Can you anticipate what you must...

Another year of living with COPD has come and gone. It has been eight years. It has become easier because of the knowledge I have gained through the experience of...

What do you expect from a doctor and how do you lay the ground rules of managing your COPD? We know that all doctors are not created equally. Most are true...

When I got my diagnosis of stage 4 COPD I was so scared. I thought I had been diagnosed and sent home to die. Though it was my first diagnosis...

January and September are renewal months for me. I love the thought of September with new pencils and the smell of new books. Education has always been a big part...

Editor's note: This is part 3 of a series. Be sure to check out part 1 and part 2! Is that all for this series? Sadly, no. My sister-in-law has...

Birds entertain me through the cold winter months and into the spring and summer. Before COPD, my desk was facing into the room, and my back was to the window...

I often hear some of you that have COPD say that you have no help. I believe people when they say this, but I also know that sometimes we need...

Most of us with COPD know that our needs will increase as our illness progresses. I am not sure which of us hurts more, ourselves or our caregivers. As hard...

What is the life that you had before you were diagnosed with COPD? I was working a few jobs at the time of my diagnosis. I was a cook for...

There are several generations of smoking in my family, and recently, it brought up a lot of emotions. See, I found a box of VHS tapes in storage. When I...

Editor's note: this is part 2 of a series. Be sure to read part 1 and part 3! My husband and I have a large family. We have been married...

Healthcare can be problematic for those with COPD who live in rural areas. There isn't a pulmonologist in our area; the nearest specialist affiliated with our medical group is two...