Well I did smoke but I didn't think this would happen!

Well you know what though I did and by the time I had accepted the fact and started to work on my lungs I had only 21% of my lung function left. Not much to work with but I have managed to improve this to 25% and I am hoping for more.

One of the worst things a doctor can tell a smoking COPD patient is that they have an incurable illness and they cannot get any better it's just going to get worse. This is stopping people from packing in smoking and stopping smoking is one of the main things that can help you turn your life around, I would say it is number one on the list.

Because of the negative attitude of some doctors, people are not stopping smoking. They are thinking, and you can't blame them really, "well if it's going to get worse anyway what's the point, I need my cigs to get through these awful blinking days struggling to breathe and a cigarette helps me breathe better". NO NO NO!! This is completely wrong, everyone's lungs decline in function as they get older and by stopping smoking, you can dramatically help bring the decline in your lung function down to more or less a non-smoker's level. So, yes things will get worse for everyone whether they have COPD or not, smoke or not, but much worse, if you don't stop smoking with COPD, the decline will be rapid and you will only have a few years to live. So if you still smoke and you have COPD, stop now!!!

There are another couple of things that you can do to help your situation when you have COPD and one is maintaining a healthy weight, eating healthily so you are getting all the vitamins etc. you need and taking regular exercise. I am on lots of vitamins and minerals to keep my body stocked up and in a good state in case I get one of the dreaded infections.

A prime example of following this regime is the COPD Athlete you can see him all over the net he is from Australia and has taken part in many marathons his lung function is only 27% and he manages to do things anyone with COPD would have thought impossible!

He came to visit the Wigan Warblers (a great COPD singing group in Yorkshire) whilst he was in England and informed me that he would be back next year to take part in the London Marathon. My reply to that was to say, I could never even think of doing that and he said that's what he would have said a couple of years ago.

As Russell says -

"Meds help keep us stable, activity improves our quality of life"

That activity can be anything from singing to running (if you are up to it). But for me the first thing I need to do is get some more weight off and get my heart rate to behave. We all have to sweep up the mess first before we can crack on with the good work!

The Wigan Warblers have been making a right name for themselves they are a group of people who feel that singing can improve your health. It's true, it can definitely improve your breathing and exercises the lungs and it is also good for depression, music is a cure all. I would certainly rather sing that do breathing exercises, it does the same thing and its more pleasurable. Exercising your lungs in such a way keeps them more healthy and prevents infections. You have to work those lungs girl! (ooops or man)

Also it helps reverse the deconditioning cycle - this Downward Spiral is a real problem when you have COPD. I got so bad that I could barely walk, if anyone knocked on the door I would go to the window and see them rather than walk around to the door. That is how bad it got! Even now I am still having problems but I am improving slowly week by week. And it can be done, I have proven this myself. So what happens to get us in such a mess? Chest infections happen! Steroids happen! When you go through a period of having one infection after another you just cannot get strong enough to turn things about. You find you increasingly spend more and more time sat down because you are just so exhausted and in turn with the steroids some of us put on weight, take that with the increased inactivity and this is what sets off the cycle. But, by eating healthily and trying to avoid infections (easier said than done sometimes), listening to your body and starting medications before things get out of control, losing weight (if you need to) and stepping up on how much activity you do daily, this cycle can be broken but it will take time. It will not happen over night - nothing worth while is easy is it?