Welcome jgirl

[John]

welcome8 jgirl . Nice to have a new member from Australia . cheerleader0-vi party-smiley-048 goodnews th_icon_hug

[jgirl]

Hi John and thanks for the warm welcome! I have hovered around this forum many times over the past few years since being diagnosed with COPD and have just mustered the courage to join. You seem such a helpful bunch of people ... hope I can be too.
Judy

[Blossom/Jackie W.]

Welcome to the family JG! It's great to have you with us and we look forward to your input and contributions AND getting to know you better!

You'll find the folks here helpful; informative, sharing and supportive. Don't be afraid to ask questions; do a post; or the "where" to post..... the staff can/will easily move it if need be so don't ever let that deter you.

Anyway; we look forward to hearing more about you..... pop in at the fence anytime for a cuppa and chat...

I'm Jackie; aka Blossom!

[jim]

Hi jgirl,
so nice to see another Aussie here, I live in Brisbane. I've been a member here for a few months now, and I have found the site has lot's of helpful information and all the members here are very kind, caring and supportive.





Take care. I hope you had a good day.

[peter]

Welcome Jgirl, My name is Peter and on behave of COPD in Canada & The World I want to extend to you a warm welcome . You will find a lot of information here. So look around and when your ready please join us @ the fence.

party-smiley-048 party-smiley-048 party-smiley-048 party-smiley-048 cheerleader0-vi cheerleader0-vi cheerleader0-vi cheerleader0-vi Band Band Band Band thumbsupde1 thumbsupde1 thumbsupde1 thumbsupde1 welcome8 welcome8 welcome8 welcome8 thepr131yo9 thepr131yo9 thepr131yo9 thepr131yo9

[Sue in Ontario]

cheerleader0-viWelcome Joannie

[jgirl]

Thank you to all for the welcome . Sorry I haven't been around the past couple of days ... have had a chest thingy for the past two weeks that has laid me flat, you know the ones where the mind says 'yes' and the body says 'not on your sweet nelly am I doing anything of the kind!' Well, today the mind took control again and here I am.
Quick background .... I live in the far south of South Australia (very pretty but horribly chilly and smoky in winter), I work in aged care with much difficulty (it's getting to be my clients are fitter than I am), diagnosed with COPD 3 years ago by a doctor that did a chest xray and prescribed me meds that her husband had because he had the same problem, never any blood tests or follow up xrays just visit for repeat prescriptions, have gotten worse in the 3 years and am now seeing another doctor who has sent me for oodles of blood tests, xrays and next week I have spirometry for the first time. I am so looking forward to getting an oxygen concentrator (or two) so I can keep helping my darling oldies.
I have been like a rash over copd websites and find much conflicting advice, so would love to hear your experience on a few subjects, but I won't bombard you with them all at once. When I get my tests sorted out I can address them and start the journey to recovery (or whatever).
Cheers for now
Judy

[Blossom/Jackie W.]

Well Miss Judy; nice to meet you.

It absolutely amazes me that Drs are still scripting breathing meds w/o doing a breathing test first (Spirometry or PFT)! As for an x ray; it's not very good, or definitive for diagnosing COPD unless your disease is further along . You were wise to see another Dr. BTW; I can't see how old you are.... may I ask?

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but.... there's no going back (recovery). However; you can certainly learn to control and maintain your disease to an appreciable degree and you're obviously still working which means you're active and THAT my dear is a big plus/bonus!

With regards to the concentrator.... you may not even need one.

However; all of that can be addressed latr but first, and you were bang on, you need to get your breathing test done. Make sure you ask for a copy while you're there. Some places are becoming reluctant to give you a physical copy so... if you have a smart phone or something similar, take a picture!

Feel free to ask any questions at any time. Also; there's many topics in the COPD portal if at some point you want to browse and read. Many of the people who are members here, and many of the visitors, certainly have some "living with" knowledge and experience that they'll gladly share.

Good Luck Judy!

[jgirl]

Hi Jackie Hmmm you want me to tell the world how old I am? Well just for you I'm in my 50's. Yes I was diagnosed with an xray and I have the radiologists report saying I have emphysema. In hindsight I cannot believe a doctor would just write scripts and ignore all other aspects of this disease. Fortunately the Spiriva and Symbicort agree with me, although I do recall having Seretide at some stage and got the shakes something shocking. When I say I work, I have reduced my workload down to a manageable 4 hours a week and during the latest exacerbation, had trouble with that. I carry a pulse oximeter with me at all times and some of the readings are bad. A couple of weeks ago I fainted doing a simple task ... it's kinda scary. So I'm hoping my new doctor will set me straight and I can rebuild my life a little.
Thankyou for your message.
Cheers
Judy

[Blossom/Jackie W.]

So that puts you at 47 or thereabouts at diagnosis and considering the degree you're at in conjunction with your age especially, you might want to also ask for an Alpha1 test. If you're in your late 50's it's not as big a deal. It's just a simple blood test.

Good luck Judy and thanks for sharing your "approx" age.

[mary57]

Welcome Jgirl, It's good to meet you, though not necessarily the reason for, . However I'm glad that you are getting some of the necessary tests done that can help you. Looking forward to chatting with you at the fence.

[jgirl]

Thankyou Mary, nice to meet you too

[susanny]

Hi Judy! Another Aussie. It is nice to meet you and if you know how to post pictures I'd love to see where you live and what it looks like. Sounds like it's cold from what you say. You are going into Summer season soon, are't you? We're heading into Winter. We had our first snowfall yesterday. yulk!

You and I are about the same are, or thereabouts. I'm a tad bit older seeing as I'll be 60 in about a month. I was diagnosed in 2006 but had to quit working in '08.Do you have a family? I have a husband that lives with me and two children who are outof the house. My daughter lives about 4 hours away and is married, no kids. My son lives nearby and is single, no kids.

You sound very positive about exercising and getting things on track and on to where you can do as much as you can do to keep on trucking and working. That's a great attitude and I know you'll do good if you keep on doing your exercises. Best thing to keep up is walking and any other cardio exercises. Of course you want to quit smoking if you are.. took me years to stop and it hurt my body not stopping early.

Well, I'll be looking forward to seeing your posts as time goes by. Take care, Sue

[jgirl]

Hi Sue! Lovely to meet you and hear about your family! You'll beat me to the big 60 by about 7 months, but once over 50 who counts, too busy working out what day it is and what we can leave on the jobs list til tomorrow
I don't have any family and live with my dog. My husband and I split about 8 years ago, we both wanted to live in different places, but we catch up by phone occasionally.
Yes it will soon be summer here. When I say it's cold here it is nowhere near your cold! Heck, I couldn't stand the thought of waking up and going out in your weather, pretty as it is. The temperature range here is from about minus 5C to plus 45C, the minus is frosty with high humidity, the heat is unbearable if you have to be out in it and near zero humidity. We also have a lot of rain in winter. Oh well, it sure beats digging yourself out of snow, don't know how you cope with that.
I am really looking forward to doing my tests next week and moving on from there. Like you I messed around with smoking for years ... give it up, take it up, never really serious, but when you get to not being able to do your job, it's time to take a serious look at things. You can't change the past so better late than never for both of us I say. Mind you I still get the itch for a smoke sometimes but I'm too scared to have one.
Cheers
Judy

[susanny]

I HEAR YOU on being too scared to smoke another cig. My anniversary date of quitting was 10/11/13 and I was in the hospital when I quit. I was really sick and in there for one month. I rarely want one now and if I do it's only for a second and then I'm ok,. My husband is smart and keeps them in the basement where I can't get to them, .Otherwise I don't know how strong I'd be to stay away from them...if you know what I mean.

We don't get much high temps. here. In the summer the highest it gets is about 100 F. and in the winter the coldest it would get down to about20 below zero F. There are variences, but not much and not often, thank God.

[jgirl]

Sue, does your hubby actually smoke? Is he not afraid of COPD? But in saying that, my uncle was dying of lung cancer 30 odd years ago and my auntie thought it would put me off smoking, but no. Will get out and about when the weather improves and get some landscape pics to post. We have a wonderful swimming lake here too, so will post a pic of that when it gets filled in early Dec. Hope you are well, take care. Judy

[barb7330]

kaffeetrinker_2[1] all Well jgirl my husband is still smoking. He says he's smoked for 60years, he's now almost 77.
He figures the damage is done. You'd think when he sees me hooked up to oxygen he would try to quit. Oh well he does not smoke in the house or the car so I've given up talking. I have been quit since March 2007. Been on oxygen as needed since March 2012. Time to go for th_coffeeincup.
Good breathing to all...

[susanny]

Judy, my husband has tried over and over to quit smoking and believe me when I say he feels guilty that he can't. One true thing is he never smokes around me....ever, not even in the car when I'm NOT in it. The only place he smokes is outside or in the basement. My daughter's husband smokes, too, but only outside. I know my daughter doesn't smoke, but not sure about my son. I don't think he does but not sure, like I said. I don't see him very often any more, unfortunately. He's scared and staying away. He's been like this since he saw my dad die. Only came to see me in the hospital once last year, but a couple of times to rehab.

THE ONLY ONE in my Family to smoke then was me and my mom and dad. My dad threw his out the car window when he was 30 years old and picked up cigars, yulk. Mom only lightly smoked through the years after that. I was the dumb one who could/wouldn't quit.

[jgirl]

Barb if I were 77 and didn't have this mongrel disease, I'd still be puffin' too. Good on him I say!

Sue, I tried to give up many times too, so I understand where he's at. If it wasn't for what we've got we'd both still be doing it too, right? But I knew as soon as it came time to get tested I'd have to bite the bullet coz I wouldn't get oxygen if I smoked. Amazing how easy it is if you HAVE TO. Both my parents smoked and Mum probably smoked when pregnant with me, it wasn't a 'crime' back then, so I was born addicted and lived with second hand smoke all through childhood. It's so sad your son doesn't see you much, sad for you and I'm sure one day he will regret it too.