Peter's Story

By petercox

1 min read

I didn't realise I was suffering from this condition for a long time. I had what one could describe as a bit of a bad time of it!!! For a long while I suffered with intermittent crippling stomach cramps and UTI. During this period, my mother sadly passed away. Not long after I was diagnosed with a fistula of the bowel and bladder and had to undergo surgery.

Upon returning to work I suffered two severe bouts of flu during which I struggled to catch my breath. I then lost my job through redundancy. My breathing problems didn't ease up but I put it down to stress due to the bad occurrences that had occurred. Eventually I succumbed and went to the doctor. Went to the hospital and was diagnosed with severe COPD. That's my story and my life - well, every day is a struggle. It's a terrible affliction.

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jennl Member
Hi Peter, I want to thank you for sharing your story with us on the site! This is Jenn - I'm the one who commented back to you this morning (on your Facebook comment on our post) and suggested you share it with our community. I'm so glad you did, because I know there are many people on the site who can relate to you and the struggle you've experienced. We actually have a whole post about the diagnosis process where we encourage people to talk about it, as you did, this month: <a href='https://copd.net/spotlight/diagnosed-then-what/' target='_blank'>https://copd.net/spotlight/diagnosed-then-what/</a>. I hope it's helpful for people to know they're not the only ones dealing with this - and sharing stories, like you did, is what lets them know that! So we really appreciate it. Thank you for being part of this community - please know you're not in this alone. Best, Jenn (COPD.net Team)
wally2 Member
sorry to hear of your bad health problems peter and sorry for your loss, but hopefully with the help of others on here you can move on a bit, hope this new year brings better things for you wally
linhe Member
I knew I had COPD years ago because I had a terrible cough that just wouldn't quit. I always just said I'm getting over a cold or I have a bad cold. Till a nurse where I worked said, "Sounds like a smokers cough to me". I was embarrassed to admit it so I tried to hide the fact for a long time. But the thing with COPD is, it's a very subtle disease that kind of creeps on you and before you know it..........you are at the FULL BLOWN stage. Once I was told I had Emphysema I thought that was it, my life is over BUT that's not true. As I learned to manage this disease, I'm finding out I can prolong symptoms by being careful what I eat and slowing down a great deal. Quit smoking (I quit Feb. 28th 2014) Walking slower, doing everything slower really helps me breath better so I don't panic. Oh don't get me wrong, I still get panicky now and then but I just have to force myself to remember.......slow down, take your time. There's no rush. 😀 I also take meds for depression and anxiety......it all helps. You just do what you have to do and don't worry, you're not alone as I'm finding out since I joined this site. I feel even better knowing there are others out there with similar symptoms as me. ~Linda~ P.S. I'm sure if I wouldn't have quit smoking when I did, I would be much much worse or maybe not here at all. I joined a 'quit smoking' group (outside of facebook) and those people have helped me quit and stay quit. We still keep in touch.
1. sharon-tommy Member
 That sounds a lot of Tommy COPD started
linhe Member
Peter I'm so sorry to hear your story but you had way too many things going on at the same time so it's understandable that the copd crept in there. Stress will indeed make copd worse. I hope in the days, months ahead you find a good balance and are doing better. ((hugs)) to you ~Linda~

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