Living

Writing this from my heart, I'm a true believer that we're all here for a reason and maybe we will never find out why. We all leave a mark behind...

Since my COPD was diagnosed, I miss being able to shovel snow. Honestly. Sounds crazy, I know. But growing up in the Northeast United States, shoveling snow has been a...

We get a lot of questions about a COPD diet. So, I spent some time investigating this subject. I even talked with a dietician and a COPD educator. What I...

I was living out of state when mom called. She had not been diagnosed with COPD yet but was having chronic health problems. Wow! Another round of antibiotics for her...

Thanksgiving. It’s my favorite holiday - way beyond Christmas which has become so commercialized it’s no longer recognizable to me. The Christmas decorations used to go up sometime after Thanksgiving...

COPD is a chronic disease. This means it’s always there. However, the progression of the disease can be slowed, and symptoms can be minimized. You can live well and live...

Several people have contacted me in mid-November to say that they could feel that same old Christmas melancholy setting in. Trying to ignore it only makes it worse but finding...

Thanksgiving is a day that’s set aside to give thanks. The first Thanksgiving was celebrated in the fall of 1621 when roughly 90 Native Americans and 50 Europeans congregated for...

If you have COPD, it’s very important that you find a great COPD doctor. Listed here are 40 undeniable truths about great COPD doctors. Great doctors make you feel welcome...

Do you enjoy a glass of wine with COPD? When mom was diagnosed with pulmonary disease, her first goal was to reduce the inflammation in her lungs and then make...

The benefits of singing with COPD are available to everyone. If you don’t believe me, you never met my mom. She played the organ at our neighborhood church, and always...

Three years ago I wrote an article called “5 Things To Be Thankful For.” So, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, here are seven more things to be thankful for. COPD...

Being aware of what happens to your body when you have COPD can make the difference between living well and living poorly with your chronic illness. One of the first...

As COPD Awareness Month is upon us I feel it's important to make sure we are aware off changes within our health. We can become complacent with ourselves and think...

What is meant by who cares for who with COPD? Frequently a person with COPD has a spouse, partner, or other loved one with COPD or another chronic illness. COPD...

World COPD Day is an initiative that is sponsored by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD). Beginning in 2002, it has gained momentum each year since. Banding together...

Love the fall. It’s my favorite season. I feel like my lungs open up (relatively, for someone with COPD) and that I can breathe so much better than I can...

So, I’m sitting at my computer to finish up some charting. I click on the Epic icon. That’s as far as I get before my work phone dings to indicate...

The first time I realized that I might be having some breathing problems was many years before my diagnosis. Working in the downtown core often meant that parking wasn’t always...

Ten years and eight months ago, we purchased our house. Besides cleaning house and shampooing carpets, we haven't made any real improvements. Finally, it was time for our much-anticipated remodel...