The first diagnosis

By DMC53

1 min read

I watched my father-in-law struggle with COPD for several years. He not only smoked, but was a retired firefighter, serving at a time when the protection from smoke was not like it is today.

When I did the breathing test and was told “COPD”, I was upset and scared. I had smoked for 45 years with many attempts at quitting so it wasn’t a very big shock. But all I could see in my future was the vision of me just like my father-in-law. Not being able to walk from one end of my house to the other without stopping, sitting, gasping for air.

I am in the early stages of this disease but I can feel it starting to overcome my daily life. No more walks around my subdivision. The constant fatigue. The coughing that won’t stop. Feeling helpless and like a total failure when I watch my husband take on the tasks that I used to do. Watching my daughter be ever vigilant when we got out shopping, making sure I am OK.

I don’t like this. Not one little bit. And it is going to get progressively worse. I may not be able to survive what is to come.

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Leon Lebowitz, RRT Member
<inline-mention username="DMC53" user-id="4277452"/> Hi DMC, and thanks for your post. We appreciate you sharing your medical circumstances and brief history here with the community. You have certainly come to the right place! We have an entire community here which understands how you feel and knows exactly what you are going through. Since, as you said, you are in the early stages of the disease, there is viable treatment for you. The treatment can help you to live a longer and better life (with COPD), and also slow down the progression of the disease. I thought you might find it helpful to read some of the material of these aspects of treatment of COPD. First, this article on the treatment for the early stages: <a href='https://copd.net/living/early-stage-treatment' target='_blank'>https://copd.net/living/early-stage-treatment</a>, and, Next, what to know about the early stages: https://copd.net/clinical/early-stages-what-to-know. In addition, this article focuses on slowing down the progression of the disease: https://copd.net/living/progress-can-be-slowed. I do hope you find this information to be helpful in a practical way. Please know you are always welcome here in our online community. If there is anything we can do to assist you, please let me or any other moderator / team member know. Wishing you well, Leon (site moderator <a href='https://copd.net' target='_blank'>COPD.net</a>)
DMC53 Member
Thank you
1. tomboyer46 Member
 <inline-mention username="DMC53" user-id="4277452"/> Under no circumstances was it meant to be condescending. For that I sincerely apologize. 
2. DMC53 Member
 <inline-mention username="tomboyer46" user-id="4140736"/> thank you.
Jackie English Moderator & Contributor
Hi <inline-mention username="DMC53" user-id="4277452"/> ! I'm sorry to hear about your diagnosis! I was diagnosed 11 years ago and have been on oxygen for 10 years. I didn't think I would last but a couple of years, but here I am. My husband helps me with the things that I can not do but some advice that I would love to give you is please don't stop moving! Don't stop taking those walks. Still take them even if it's not as far as you used to. I stopped doing those things in the beginning because it was just too hard at times. I wish I would have listened to my doctors when they said to eat right and exercise. I finally took that advice 8 years later. Boy, what a difference that made. I wish I would have done that from the start. Do a Pulmonary Rehab class either online or at a hospital. It will be the best thing that you could do for yourself. I feel better now than I have in years. I hope this helps. Best, Jackie (Moderator)