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Just Between Us
............a Couple of More Letters..
To You From Vic:
A welcome to Newly
Diagnosed COPD’ers. I was diagnosed with COPD in June of 1997. I did the best
thing I could do to help myself, I quit smoking cold-turkey. COPD was a tough
pill to swallow and I even suffered mood swings because of it. To me it was the
end.
I went plodding along just feeling sorry for myself. Then, one day I found a
COPD Forum on the Internet. A new world opened up to me as I found I was not
alone and, further, here I found hundreds of folks with the same COPD, and many
worse than I was, living a full life in spite of it all. I became active in the
Forum and learned a great deal about the disease and soon found out that the
diagnosis was not the end of my world. Eventually, I started living a fuller
life and my outlooks changed.
The answer for Newly Diagnosed folks is to hook up to a forum, or two, or three
and become active and you will find that it’s still a good life…and you can even
enjoy your new-found friends. Chin up, face the problem and conquer it, but
first, above all…stop smoking. Good luck and God bless. -- Vic
From JackieNS (Blossom):
Boy you must be scared; I know I was. My first week was a week of Hell internally. My FEV 1 was 38%, thought the Grim Reaper would soon be there for me. I had a GP that I'm sure was in the 25% in our province who discriminates against current and former smokers and offered no meds other than the old blue puffer. He dropped the bomb and sent me away. What a jerk he was.
And; I felt soooooooo alone.
Well; I took a week to research then made an appointment for a consult because I "wasn't satisfied." I asked for and got a flu shot and pneumonia vaccine (it wasn't initially offered), insisted on a PFT, then saw a specialist, got on the right meds and searched out a new family Dr.
My saving grace was the Internet, forums and acquired KNOWLEDGE.
I do everything I did before and in some things a bit more and yes your life will change a bit but you'd have to make some adjustments just getting older wouldn't you?
No; your life is far from over and giving in and giving up isn't an option.
Once you get over the initial shock and maybe anger, take stock of yourself and what you can do to help yourself. Exercise (I can't stress this enough); do something, talk about your disease (just don't bore folks to tears), contact your MP and minister of health, get out and about, get educated, take part in the forums; get involved, SPEAK OUT!
Above all.....remember......YOU AREN'T ALONE! We're all in this together. God Bless.
JackieNS (Blossom)
Finally From
LarryNZ;
The day Larry
was diagnosed with COPD he seriously wondered whether to buy
himself the new pair of shoes he had planned on or if he wouldn’t be needing
shoes for much longer.
“The doctor was quite negative, saying there was no cure, I was too old for a
transplant, so all I could do was to go to rehab.”
‘The first sign of trouble was in 1989, when I was admitted to
hospital with breathing problems. I was diagnosed with asthma treated and sent
home after three days.”
Larry was given asthma medication to control his symptoms but his breathing
problems persisted. He quit smoking in 2000, nearly 50 years after he started,
but his health continued to deteriorate.
In 2002,
he was diagnosed with COPD, with 37%of normal lung function. With almost
no information, the diagnosis was frightening.
It was six
months later, when he started pulmonary rehabilitation, that he finally got the
information he needed to start fighting back.
“It was excellent. It is all about education-the causes of COPD, how to avoid
making it worse, learning about the medicines, exercise, diet. It’s no cure, but
it allows you to make the best of things.”
“I have restrictions on my abilities. I walk slower than I used to, I can’t
hurry and any sort of slope is like a big hill. A cold wind stops me in my
tracks, and I get tired very easily.
“Now I do everything I can to stay active. I walk a lot every day, and I have a
dog that likes walking too, so if I forget she reminds me. I use light dumbbells
to maintain upper body strength.
“I also have antibiotics on stand-by at home. We have a saying that ‘sick lungs
don’t show’. Often the people around you don’t understand how much energy you
burn up just to breathe. On the internet there are people just like me, who
experience the same things. You're NOT alone!"
Note: All of these people frequent several COPD forums to learn and share with fellow COPDer's. You're always welcome at any or all.
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COPD in Canada - this is a new forum launched in March 2007 by Phil Cable of Halifax Nova Scotia. Although Phil passed away a few months later, COPD Canada Patient Network has kept it up and running.
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