Living

Once you have been accepted into the lung transplant evaluation process, you will go through extensive testing. In the initial meetings with the team, you will learn what is expected...

When you live with a chronic illness or disability, it can sometimes be difficult to function in the workplace. However, many workers who are struggling may be reluctant to speak...

When most people think of hospice, the first thing that enters their mind is death and dying with peace and dignity. I have been at death's door and seen the...

This is Part I of my experience with diagnostic testing for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. (Click here to read Part II.) There are several kinds of tests that can help...

After the long, confusing process of applying for Social Security disability benefits, it is understandably very frustrating to receive a denial. While the Social Security Administration (SSA) has no official...

COPD brings with it many challenges, one in particular is the increased difficulty of everyday tasks. When your breathing is labored and you often feel exhausted, so many daily tasks...

COPD is a complex and intricate group of conditions. Even for those who educate and familiarize themselves with this condition regularly, there are always new things to learn and new...

I live on Social Security. I have no other income, I don't get food stamps or low income housing. I am telling you this so you know you can eat...

Editor's note: This is part 3 of a 4-part series. Be sure to check out part 1, part 2, and part 3. When it comes to cooking, for people with...

One aspect of managing a chronic illness is the constant deciphering of new symptoms! Every time you experience something new you have to ask “Is this normal?” “Is this because...

Everyone today knows it's better to quit smoking, that are some significant rewards to quitting smoking. When my parents started smoking in the first half of the 20th century, the...

Patients with COPD will have to endure countless blood draws over the course of their lives.  For most, this is uncomfortable, but it can be tolerated.  For others, it seems...

Editor's note: This is part 2 of a 4-part series. Be sure to check out part 1, part 3, and part 4. I know it is very hard to maintain...

I remember one year when my mom planted almost three hundred tulip bulbs in my grandmother’s yard and some in her yard.  She loved to be outside, with her hands...

Editor's note: This is part 1 of a 4-part series. Be sure to check out part 2, part 3, and part 4. COPD is a challenging condition to live with...

Sadly my mother suffers COPD at an advanced age. As a result I am sure sometimes our genes are more responsible for our COPD than we realize. I had sarcoidosis...

We were recently cleaning out our garage, and we came across a board game that had been the Sunday afternoon activity with my mom, just after my husband and I...

When you are in mourning for the life you've lost to COPD, denial, disbelief and grief are the easiest emotions to deal with, but they can lead to the stronger...

The reaction to being diagnosed with COPD is as varied as the people that get COPD. Being diagnosed with COPD may cause feelings of denial, fear, anger, blame, guilt, confusion...

In part one I explained how COPD causes many of us to bloat. I also explained how large our lungs become inside our bodies. Bloating can be uncomfortable, and in some...