Living With COPD | HealthInfi

I was diagnosed with COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) in January 1999 after spending six weeks getting over pneumonia. It was at a follow-up visit that my primary care doctor said, while listening to my lungs, “I don’t hear much.”After all those weeks of coughing, wheezing and gurgling when I breathed, I thought that was a good thing. It was a surprise when he said, “No, it isn’t a good thing.

He had already taken X-rays and checked my oxygen levels. He said he thought I had COPD. At my puzzled expression, he explained what COPD is, but all I caught was the word “emphysema.” I vaguely thought of an old man with a walker and oxygen and decided the doctor was wrong. How could I have emphysema? I was still relatively young and healthy. He encouraged me to see a pulmonologist and quit smoking, and he signed me up for pulmonary rehabilitation.

I left his office in shock and partial denial—I say “partial” because, like many smokers, I was always waiting for the sky to fall. Aside from feeling weak from the pneumonia, I felt fine and healthy. I had two children, one an undergraduate in college and one working on her master’s, and an aging mother, who needed me. I also owned a small business that had finally turned profitable after years of struggle. I needed to be well.

After much research and a visit with a pulmonologist, I began to understand the seriousness of my COPD. I joined a pulmonary rehab group and continued to educate myself about my disease, which was a bit of a challenge 13 years ago. There was little information available. I felt truly alone and very afraid, so I set out to take more control over my disease. I quit smoking, which was one of the hardest things I have ever done, and took my medications as prescribed. When pulmonary rehab was over, I continued to exercise and eat nutritiously. These helped me feel significantly better.

During my first few years with COPD, I became involved in speaking with others about COPD and working with organizations that asked me to help spread awareness.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Quiz the average person on the street, and how many could tell you what it is? Would you know that it’s the 4th leading cause of death in the United States? Not likely. But that is one of COPD‘s unfortunate claims to fame.

A serious and progressive lung disease diagnosed in more than 13 million Americans, COPD develops when lungs become damaged from smoking and sometimes from heavy exposure to pollution, chemicals, or dusts. Genes may also play a role in the development of the disease.

COPD causes airways to become partially blocked, making it very hard to breathe. You can’t reverse the damage it causes, and COPD has no cure. But you can do many things to slow its progression and live a longer, higher-quality life.Read More