Living

Wow. One day you're okay and then the struggle appears like a mighty rock that fell in front of you. Everybody is different and so are people's struggles. Trying to...

Some people with COPD require home oxygen. The most common delivery device for this is a nasal cannula. Cannulas have prongs that enter your nostrils allowing you to inhale a...

It was quite a surreal moment seeing my family after so long. They hadn't been around when I was diagnosed, so I'm sure it was a shock. I wasn't the...

"Hello...my name is Jeff, and I'm an addict!" "Hello, Jeff!" I didn't realize I was an addict till after I had quit smoking for 3 years and still jonesed those...

When many people hear the word meditation, they think of some new age mumbo jumbo. It is immediately dismissed, never realizing the good that can come from it. Then there...

People living with COPD face a higher chance of serious illness from the virus that causes COVID-19 and having other long-term lung diseases like moderate to severe asthma and cystic...

Some people with COPD also have a condition called pulmonary hypertension (PH). This means that you have elevated blood pressure inside your lungs. So, what might cause a person to...

Editor's note: This is part 3 of a series. Check out part 1 and part 2. Lots of anticipation led to my second attempt at respiratory rehab. Due to the...

In the good old days when a person or a couple moved into a different town, when they got married, or when they had a baby, a gift basket was...

Well, it's been about a little over a week since landing on UK soil, and what a time we've had. I would just like to share my personal experience as...

Dear Journal, Here we are at the end of another year. It has been a strange year for most, great sadness because of so many lives lost with Covid, and...

Editor's note: This is part 2 of a series. Check out part 1 and part 3! Doing respiratory rehab one-on-one with my therapist on ZOOM made it even more intimidating...

We asked our COPD advocates for their thoughts on irritability and here’s what they had to say. Our families and friends know that I have COPD, asthma, allergies, and more...

Sometimes mom had nose dryness with supplemental oxygen for COPD. Then the cannula would irritate it and make things worse. Her skin seemed drier and thinner inside her nostrils anyway...

It never occurred to me when I was diagnosed with COPD how much it would affect my diet and eating habits. I have been lucky in that I don’t have...

Doctors often order blood tests which requires that you have your blood drawn. The information obtained from your blood can be helpful to doctors. It can help them monitor how...

It could be a New Year's past, a New Year's future, or even a New Year in the present. New Year's Eve is always the 31st of December. This is...

One of the most difficult things for me to commit to is exercise. Actually, diet too. Why exercise, you may wonder. Exercise can help to slow the progression of this...

We asked our COPD advocates for their thoughts on impatience and here's what they had to say. Patience is a virtue, so they say. I try, but am finding out...

Editor's note: This is part 1 of a series. Check out part 2 and part 3! In December of 2019, I asked my doctor to be admitted to a respiratory...