Living

Do you ever feel sad, blue or down in the dumps when you think about living with COPD? If so, you're certainly not alone! At least 1 out of every...

The cost of life saving medications is on the rise. Many of the inhalers, steroids, and combination drugs are expensive. If you are on medicare, like my mom was, it...

Something isn’t right. You find you run out of breath so easy. You’re so tired and rundown. You keep coughing. Thankfully you quit smoking a while ago, so it shouldn’t...

Sometimes in life, I have felt sad, defeated, happy, tired, excited, free, loved, goofy! I find that my happy place is doing something positive, something that I can see, share...

When you have a chronic illness such as COPD, life can be hard. It sometimes feels as though the disease has taken over your life. Unlike a broken bone or...

Mom wanted to remain as independent as possible. She enjoyed having our support, but didn’t want to be a burden. The first few years after her diagnosis with COPD were...

While it’s possible to live an enjoyable life with COPD, it isn’t always easy. This chronic lung disease, which includes bronchitis and emphysema, can be challenging for both patients and...

So, I am a respiratory therapist. I work with lots of COPDers. Some have severe COPD. And some come visit me more than they’d like. We often pass the time...

COPD is Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. This disease causes an obstruction of airflow, which makes it more difficult to breathe. There is a higher risk with the use of anesthesia...

For the last few weeks, I have been trying to pay particular attention to what triggers the fits of coughing from COPD. Some of them are simple enough to understand...

The past few mornings I was greeted with sunshine and the sounds of birds chirping. Temps in the 60s and 70s and very little humidity. This wasn’t because of a...

You have been diagnosed with COPD, which is Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. This is a disease of the lungs that causes obstructed airflow. COPD is the third leading cause of...

Unfortunately, we must all accept that doctors in the U.S. today have very little time to spend with each patient. Changes in health insurance and electronic records have greatly changed...

Around Mother’s Day, my heart always feels a little empty. My mom was a woman who could fill a room with laughter and love. Even when she was confined to...

In my EMT class some years back, when we were learning to take patient evaluations and then the reports, sob kept coming up. The patient was sob. I couldn’t believe...

The term “COPD flare-up” gets bandied around quite a bit. So, what exactly are flare-ups anyway? What causes them? Here’s what to know. According to Oxford, a baseline is "a...

COPD is a chronic respiratory illness for which there is no cure and that will progress steadily over time. How much time can vary greatly. Often it will take years...

Every day has been a race to get functional again. My mom passed away January 16, 2018 from cancer, another close relative was diagnosed with breast cancer just a few...

As a child asthmatic, I got to know my respiratory therapists. Two therapists I met in 1980 are still friends to this day. In fact, they were helpful in me...

When I set out to write this article, I was feeling down about my limitations and didn't particularly know what to say about COPD, but felt like I needed to...