Lung Health
Faces of COPD
COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) remains a crucial Canadian health issue. Approxiamately 17, 000 – 25, 000 New Brunswickers aged 35 and over are afflicted by COPD.
Please read these personal stories of those living with COPD.
 Roger Stoddard – Saint John, NB
In 1998, after having one open chest operation that went horribly wrong, and then another operation, I was left with very serious and life altering complications resulting from such, in the form of a restrictive and obstructive breathing disorder, COPD. Life as I saw it changed forever when I started my life-long attachment to oxygen in January of 1998.
It changed not only for me but also for my entire family. As a man I no longer could look after my family financially and physically. I could not play catch or swim with my kids, or dance with my wife, something I used to love to do. Going from once being an athlete, to having people offer to open doors for you, has been a humbling and often humiliating experience.
COPD has taken its toll on my body, it is difficult to breath on a good day, sleeping is something that is not on my agenda. It requires me to be at least at a 45-60 degree angle so I sleep very little at a time. Other health complications have developed
as a result of the COPD- induced inactivity.
Before coming to the realization that my life has changed forever, I had to learn to live within my limitations and to ignore the stigmatization. I get through each day because I know my body. I know when a day is going to be worse than others. I have a great working relationship with my family doctor. And knowing my limitations, keeping my mind mentally well by keeping it engaged are all helpful.
Living with COPD is difficult but I have developed a saying along the way "Do not let the illness control your life or who you are, you control it." I do not wish to be judged, or defined by my disability, it is not who I am, but by my actions, my deeds and my footprint I leave behind.
 Tom Lundy – Riverview, NB
Few people know, first-hand, the frustration of being so short of breath you can barely make it to the bathroom and back, or how difficult it may be to towel-off after a bath, or how it feels to be dependent upon a little plastic tube you must wear in your nose and drag behind you everywhere you go. And I bet they can’t imagine how tears come to your eyes when you remember the way you used to get your work done in an orderly fashion and reasonable time, or how well you bowled or played softball, or the last time you danced across the floor with your spouse or grandchild in your arms. Do they understand that you can’t breathe when you lie down, so must spend your nights in a chair; and what it is like to need help from others - the help you were always the first to offer to them?
Luckily, most people have been spared the feeling that comes with the closing-off of your throat which makes you clutch your breast and gasp for breath and fumble for an inhaler, and the mounting fear that compounds the problem, as you anticipate it getting worse…so bad you may be in the Emergency Room…again.
What I really want to get across to you today is the impact COPD has had on my life. It’s a hard disease for other people to understand. I look fine. What I tell my friends is that living with COPD is like trying to breathe out of a straw. Try it. Think about how much breathing is taken for granted. I cherish each breath I can take. I know that if I can get out of bed, it’s going to be a good day.
 Ray Falconer - Moncton, NB
I started smoking three days after I started school in grade one and quit when I was thirty-three. I smoked up to three-pack a-day. I worked from 1958 - 1996 and then retired. I worked with most of the wrong things, asbestos, insulation, oil and soot. I grew up on the farm with mouldy hay, chickens and manure.
I had pneumonia several times by the time I was twenty-five but for the next twenty-five years I enjoyed good health. I had some chest pains when I was about forty-five. I then was diagnosed with emphysema. I was introduced to the blue inhaler, which has changed brands several times since. As the years went by and my health began to go downhill, I had medication increased and changed which all added up to a prolonged reduction in the speed I could do things, and eventually I had to use oxygen.
At seventy I can do most anything I want, it just takes longer and I have to stop for many rests. I use the chainsaw, pile wood, keep a wood fire going, mow the lawn and put siding on my garage.
My last and worst case of lung infection was in March 2008. I was in the hospital for two months and for a while I thought there would be no more breaths.
My advice to people is to make sure and have a sputum check before taking antibiotics, try and exercise as much as possible as it is the greatest way to get out of the hospital and stay out. Attend whatever support sessions you can find. Use things like spirometers and breathing methods such as pursed lip breathing. Raise the head of your bed with a wedge pillow or other things. Talk to lung specialty people because most family physicians are not well versed in COPD. Read, there are some very good books on lung problems.
Being diagnosed with COPD is not the end of life but a change in life style. I have found that if I can do something that will give my chest exercise I have a much better way of life. It is also good to have access to great medical staff.
 Brenda Mercer – Fredericton, NB
Everyday that I wake up I consider it a gift. That gift comes with the heavy price of not being able to take a full breath without wheezing. Just once I would like to go through my day without getting so short of breath that I have to stop my walk and rest to recover my breathing.
I am always the slowest in my group of young friends and I should be able to keep up with them, not hold them back. Just getting dressed has me short of breath and a shower is not complete without stopping two-three times to catch my breath. Many times I pass on outings with my friends because I know I will not be able to cope without becoming short of breath and ruining the evening, if not for them, then for me.
I opened this message by stating that I consider everyday a gift, and I do - especially since I know that I am still able to do things on my own even though those things may take me a long time. I am grateful for my job, despite the fact that it is only part of what I used to be able to do. For now I am glad to continue on at a much altered pace, all because as the Lung Association says, “Remember when you can’t breathe, nothing else matters.”
 Joan Ramsey – Miramichi, NB
It took a long time for my husband, Ivan, to receive his diagnosis of COPD. Eventually one evening his breathing became so poor that he stopped breathing and was taken to the hospital and put on a respirator. It was difficult to be asked if my husband would want to be resuscitated since my husband had been a big, strong, healthy man that had worked hard all his life.
During this hospital stay Ivan was diagnosed with COPD – this was our first time hearing about COPD. After coming home from the hospital my husband had a difficult year and ended up in the ER again on a respirator, his heart and lungs were not strong enough. He was then diagnosed with congestive heart failure but after having a pacemaker put in his health improved greatly.
Ivan still has a lot of bad days but he is grateful for the help he receives from extramural and his doctor. Some days are “good breather days” and others are “poor breather days”. Ivan walks half a mile a day – sometimes twice on good breathing days. He remains very positive and doesn’t mind wearing his oxygen in public as he sees it the same as wearing glasses.
We believe Ivan’s work in the paper industry, hog industry, charcoal barbequing, and smoking (though he has been smoke free for 20 years) may have all contributed to his illness. We would like people to be aware of work situations that may endanger your health. Awareness amongst industry, medical professionals, and individuals is key to preventing this debilitating disease.
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