Coping with copd

By Charlotte Solomo

2 min read

I was a caregiver to my mom she also had COPD she passed away 25 years ago. I took her off life support she wrote a letter telling her doctor she didn’t want to live on life support. Sometimes you have to love someone enough to let them go (I Did).

I have COPD

Now here is my story I have COPD I have had it 15 years or longer. I am supposed to be on oxygen 24/7 3 liters. I don’t take it through the day, I am afraid that I will get dependent on it in the day and it bothers me with the hose. I always bring my tank with me anywhere I go day or night just in case I need it. I am a smoker I quit and I vaped for 3 years. My doctor got real mad so I went back to smoking. He will ask me every time I go to my appointment he asked if I quit I say no he does not say anything to me about not quitting.

My treatments

I have my 3 inhalers nebulizer machine sometimes I take my inhaler before I take my nebulizer. I have an Aerobika on my nebulizer it loosens the mucus so I can spit it out. There are some days that are worse than others. I do take all my medicine and my nebulizer and my inhaler. I have been in the hospital several times but never on a ventilator, my doctor gives me a procedure where he cleans the mucus out of my lungs it has been 2 years since I’ve been in the hospital, last night 3/12/22 they gave me a breathing treatment and steroids and I got to go home first time ever they usually put me in the hospital. They put me on 3 liters and my oxygen level was 100 never before it usually runs at 84 thank god for that.

Good days and bad days

I have my good days when I clean I start with my inhaler and I go till I can’t go on and I quit. I start with my bathroom, living room, and kitchen. I do make my bed every day sometimes I ask my husband to help. On my bad days I sit and play on my iPad or I read my Bible. I don’t cook a full meal. We buy food that’s easy to prepare. I cook meat and 2 veggies sometimes they're microwave. Now onto my bath, I shower I will take my nebulizer before my bath. I will have my daughter take me to the grocery store sometimes I order groceries online my husband and I go pick them up they will put them in your car or you can get them delivered to your door. God bless best wishes and I hope I could help someone out there. I never say I have a disease I have COPD Thank you for reading my story.

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Lyn Harper, MPA, BSRT, RRT, AE-C Moderator
<inline-mention username="Charlotte Solomo" user-id="4572395"/> Hi Charlotte - Thank you for telling us about yourself and this journey with COPD. It sounds like you can relate well to the stories of many others on the site that are going through a similiar situation. You've adopted many of the practices that many do to adjust life to accomodate COPD. Not cooking big meals, learning to pace yourself, and even showering challenges. We've had many articles on some of those subjects that if you haven't seen, I recommend you take a look. You may find some tidbits that you can use and you may be able to suggest some of your own for others. Take care and keep your chin up! Best, Lyn (site moderator <a href='https://copd.net' target='_blank'>COPD.net</a>)
kloker Member
<inline-mention username="Charlotte Solomo" user-id="4572395"/> - Welcome! I had exactly the same experience with my mom. She died in 1999. I kept right on smoking until last year when I wound up in the hospital. She also had a DNR. Two things: First, please quit now. Those cigarettes are doing more damage by the day, and the sooner you put them down, the better. Second, please learn this very important thing - you need to maintain your 02 Sats at 94 or above, as anything less is causing damage to all your internal organs and shortening your life expectancy drastically. Use the hose. I have mine on 3 lpm 24/7. My body struggles enough without my making it worse by starving it for oxygen. You are far beyond the point where you have a choice. Please research this and everything about COPD. The more you know, the better off you are. We want you to hang around a while.
kloker Member
It took me twice to post this (it vanished the first time I posted it), and it's still screwed up. What is up with this forum? Buggy as hell.
1. SamanthaSarube Community Admin
 <inline-mention username="kloker" user-id="4235094"/>, sorry to hear you're having some issues. I think your post inadvertently tagged one of our moderators in the middle of a sentence. I was able to remove it. Does it look correct now? If you did want to tag them, I can go in and do that! Best, Sam S. (<a href='https://copd.net' target='_blank'>COPD.net</a>, team member).
2. kloker Member
 <inline-mention username="SamanthaSarube" user-id="4200412"/> - Yes, thanks! But the big issue was that I typed the post and posted it and it then disappeared. Vanished. Vaporized into the ether. I had to do it completely over. What you see is the second version. Crazy.
munchkin47 Member
<inline-mention username="Charlotte Solomo" user-id="4572395"/> Here is my story about life….. 'Life's trials & tribulations' I shall begin my life's 'saga' at aged 16 when I had a heart operation, after which I thought, naively, that I would be able to run faster and win the 100 yards race at the school sports. Nae such luck! Oh, well, you can't win them all. Fast forward to my early 20s….like many others of that age, I thought I was omnipotent, that I would never die of anything serious (that sounds a bit Irish!) but just maybe I might break a leg or fall ill with the flu. Ha! Ha! Now onto my early 30s….three times I suffered a breathing attack with the last one the worst. I really thought I was going to die but somehow survived it. No other attacks for 40 years. Strange, eh? I never suspected at the time that this might be a warning of things to come. Fast forward to when I was 60 and was diagnosed with diabetes, although I suspected it was probably 'grumbling' from when I was about 55 years old. It wasn’t exactly a surprise as my mother, her sister and my younger brother already suffered from it. I felt it was probably hereditary as at that age I only weighed about 116lbs and was 5' 3" tall. When I was approximately 65 I went over my ankle on holiday and broke a bone in my foot so, after I got back home again, I decided to check out whether I had osteoporosis. The result of the bone scan was that, in fact, I did have that condition! Dagnabbit! Now onto when I was 70…..that was when my breathing got worse and I was finally diagnosed with Asthma & COPD. Crumbs! I never smoked, I never drank, I was slim and I had played a lot of sport in my life and still I managed to go down with Asthma/COPD, diabetes and osteoporosis! How did I manage that? It certainly was bewildering. Well, I am now 74 years old, my breathing is only slightly worse, my weight is down to 107 lbs., I haven't broken anymore bones and I am not really depressed by it all, so that is something. This is probably due to my nature as I have always seen the 'glass half-full', so to speak. Of course, with Covid being around to complicate matters, I have been shielding at home, partly because of my lung condition but also because my husband had a kidney transplant a few years ago and is on immunosuppressants so I knew I had to make sure I didn't catch the virus or I might give it to him. I think I have only been amongst the general public on about 3 occasions since November. Ah, well, c'est la vie! One good thing on the horizon is that I am looking forward to my son's wedding in September so sometime in the not too distant future I will have to risk going into town to buy an outfit. Hmmm….I hope that meeting up with all the other guests won't lead to me and my husband going down with Covid. Wish me luck! P. S. I still don't think I'll die of anything serious. 😏
bin there and dunit Member
 For me, 19 years after contracting COPD the aim is fighting the condition with each and every tool available. Doctors use drugs to simply control and slow down the march of the illness but for me any and every possible fount of knowledge, ancient or modern, scientific or handed down mother to daughter is available for research. Just one such is the relatively recent research of the microbiome. "PA versus CA - what a difference a letter makes" or "blame it on mummy" The early symptom of COPD is problems with the airways - asthma is not dissimilar. UCSF Department of Gastroenterology has found that asthma and allergies are far more prevalent in those fed formula from birth than n those raised on mothers milk. They have gone further and discovered the specific bits which are "missing" and which cause breathing difficulties arising in the breathing tubes. They also discovered missing or shortage If necessary bacteria which could be assisted by the oral supply of L. Casei . At this stage it seems a single source of research. It is long, detailed and apparently complete as far as they have gone so far, primarily with animals. The site is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCaTQzjX2rQ Yes; copd is commonly caused by smoking or inhaling other pollution BUT it causes breathing tube damage as well as lung damage. It so happens that I started taking Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus paracasei (a blended product freely and cheaply available in UK supermarkets). Combined with a few common drinks and honey known to our grandparents it has controlled my breathing tubes in that after years of exacerbations they stopped dead 30 months ago. I can now even walk fast over long distances which I couldn't do previously. This concept seems worthy of further testing 
1. SamanthaSarube Community Admin
 <inline-mention username="bin there and dunit" user-id="4279910"/>, I appreciate you sharing what has worked for you and helped you feel better! You're right, there is definitely a need for more research on COPD and treatment options. I do just want to add a quick reminder for everyone that it is important to discuss anything new you want to try with your personal physician as they know you and your health best! All the best, Sam S. (<a href='https://copd.net' target='_blank'>COPD.net</a>, team member).