Welcome Fred! You're Home....

[Deleted]

thanks blossomjackie. I was dignosed with copd 5 years ago. Imy wife called 911 and they worked on me in driveway for 25 minute before they moved the ambulance... i was rushed from port perry hospital to oshawa hospital......in very serious condition..... when my wife arrived the emerg told her they have me in critical care on life support and put me iin induced comma... they told her i had a heartache 4 hrs before she called 911 .. she said he was lying down and didnt know he wasnt feeling weel for about a week...... they told he is lucky he is even ... medical comma for 3 weeks .. after i started coming out it ..they told me i d been told i have copd... I have been home for 5 yrs now ... but am having a terrible time dealing with my condition i was avid outdoors guy now summers i feel like i cant get my air and winter i cant enjoy my snowmobiling anywmore.... I am not on oxgen my doctor is trying to keep me off she is my family dr.. i m not been able to drive tytuck i have tried but its very difficult specially when your miles away .. now i dont have an income my wife works its urts ..we have been trying to see about disablity but always get knocked down you dont quilfy its not illness you brought this on your self by smoking well i smoke free 5 years .. my trucking job comnsisted of handbombing bags of hazzard chemicals day after day etc .. now i found this web site and joined n read some forums .. i have found people who suffer the same thing as me .. i get depressed mad and frustated about my life .. i now see i am not alone with this diease.. there are others ... i look forward to coming here to be uplifted by fellow sufferers thanks for welcoming me

[Blossom/Jackie W.]

Hi Fred... first of all WELCOME!

As you can see I've moved your post here to a new thread. You have touched on things that many, many can/will relate to. And; if you don't mind; we'd like to get to know you a bit better.

For now; d**ned frustrating isn't it? A real "how do you do" and "kick in the keestra"

You know though..... we can help you cope a bit better if you'll let us AND; you can share stuff with us that we can learn from as well! That's what we all do here.... share.

Some of us have been in quasi similar situations but.... finding out "after" the fact (as in your heart problem) that you have COPD was probably adding mega insult to injury.

Well; we don't know your age, don't know if you're on any benefits and we don't know what your current lung functions is.

Fred; this is a B of a disease I have to admit and it gets the heartiest of us down at times. And; winter sure doesn't help!

But; frankly, and personally speaking, I'll take this option. I think the same is true for e'one here. And obviously it is for you too or you wouldn't be here. We believe in "living with" the best ways that we can, not "suffering from."

So; Care to share a bit more?

[sandy07]

If I understand correctly you had a heart attack, ended up in the hospital where they discovered you also had COPD? Is that correct?

You need to know what your oxygen level is. If it is below 89 when asleep or during activity you need to be on oxygen....no matter what the doctor thinks. It is bad for your heart to be short on oxygen. The heart is the biggest user of oxygen, then our leg muscles etc. Try going to an ER and politely asking if they could see what your oxygen level is at. Just takes a minute. Try and do it when you think they won't be busy. It should be over 90. If not then you need to be on oxygen. You should also do a sleep test that has you wear a detector under your nose. It reads oxygen and can tell if you have sleep apnea. If anything shows up then they might send you for an overnight stay at a sleep clinic.

You don't say how old you are. If you are NOT yet 60 you can apply for CPP disability. You must have had CPP taken off your paycheques? You can collect until you are 65 and then go to regular CPP and Old Age.

Your heart might be making you short of breath. If not, and it really is your lungs then it sounds like you should be on some kind of inhalers. Are you? Have you had a PFT (pulmonary function test)? How did they diagnose COPD? We need a little more information before we can help. It's a great bunch of folks here and I know we'll all help if we can....we just need a little more info.

[sandy07]

You got yours up before me Jackie.....good girl.

[susanny]

Hi, Fred. (Girls, Fred is 56). So very nice to meet you, although I'm sorry it's under these conditions. Living with COPD can definitely change the way you are living your life, but you learn to make adjustments over time. Been there, done that, keep on doing it. There are a lot of t hings I can't do anymore, too, and it's he** somedays when I get to thinking about what I'm missing out on. Then I look at what I CAN do, and I get an attitude adjustment and come out smiling again. Like Blossom said, these winter months don't help any, either. Then you add the heart troubles and you find yourself wondering why me? Personally it seems like I am falling apart little by little each month and now have a few other things 'wrong' with me besides the COPD. The people around me who love me get concerned and that bothers me that I'm worrying them, ya know?

So, we do like knowing more about your COPD care in order to be able to help you out more. As asked by the others, the results of your PFT tests, the meds you're on, exercising?/rehab for heart and or COPD. It would be of greater benefit to you if you were to be in the care of a respirologist/pulmonary dr. Your family dr. isn't doing you any benefit by trying to keep you off of O2. You've already had one heart attack and people with heart problems do use O2, as well as people with COPD. Sandy pointed out some of the organs that need O2, missed the brain!, but to be honest our entire body needs/depends on O2 to run itself, even your skin and eyes.

My opinion to start you off is to get yourself to a respirologist/pulmonary dr as soon as possible. I'm sure you can get a referral from whoever it was that diagnosed you in the hospital with COPD. As for the mental anguish that we all can deal with, keep coming here to this site and get to know us. We are a great (In my opinion!) bunch of loving people who share our ups and downs with each other. We would love to add you to our online 'family' and see what we can do for each other. And the best funnest day of all is Friday. We call it Funny Friday and post jokes all day at the "Fence", a day to get away from all the downer parts of our disease and just have a good time and a few good laughs. Check out todays, the 3rd of Feb. There's some good ones on there.

Hope to see ya again, Fred,
Sue

[aero63]

Glad you joined us, Fred. Many kind and helpful people here.

[spike99]

Hi Fred.

Glad to meet you. Like you, I had to sell my motorcycle. And, I stopped driving snowmobiles many years ago as well. I loved these toys but like you, I too had to sell them (doctors orders). If you can, do apply exercise, avoid stress and get lots of sleep. Better food intake helps much better as well. For some folks, a "much cleaner" lifestyle helps. Help "slow down" the progression of COPD. For lung improvement exercises, I hear blowing up ballons helps. re: Surf: 69.72.148.136/ubb/Forum18/HTML/005836.html

Note: For balloon blowing exercise, do consult your doctor first.

Hope this helps...

.

[Suzanne (Suz)]

Sue? You're a smart cookie figuring his age...... *clap* - so Fred, welcome to the group. Everyone is so helpful here, and so eager to share everything they know about this sickness. I still think sometimes I have been misdiagnosed due to quitting smoking and now my lungs capacity being higher than lower. But when I start doing some exercise I'm not used to or sliding on the ice while curling, that is where I feel it, the out of breath etc..... And that is when I take my rescue puffer.

Hope to see you some more and feel free to ask any questions you may have. There is also a great link to the RN on the home page, that is how I integrated myself in the group, had to know the facts from the expert first I guess, not realizing alot of people here are VERY knowledgeable!

Good luck my friend and talk to you soon!!! Suzanne

[John]

Fred I'm not going to add anything .Looks like they got you covered for the time being .Good to have you on board

[bobbioh]

jump in anywhere bobbi

[Blossom/Jackie W.]

Sue in Ontario....
God love ya!
And.... let's work on that treadmill; I know there's many days/times I don't wanna... but; I know that if I don't things will get worse. So; short term pain for long term gain..... So many of us are in that situation but you gotta do what you gotta do!

[mary57]

Welcome to the group Fred, there's a lot to learn here and good friendly people to share with.

[stoker55]

Welcome Fred, I was only diagnosed before Christmas and it had made me change my life a lot. I am learning that COPD runs my life but I will not let it rule it. I just finished pulmonary rehab last week and got lots of help and advice there. If you have a COPD group where you live I suggest you join. I love this site because I can safely have a good moan or read about someone else who is going through the same thing as I. Hope you can get what need from us. Hang it there it will get much better once your start understanding your disease.

[David]

Lot's of good information in this thread.

Fred, only thing I can add is if you live in the US and they are denying your disability compensation then get a Lawyer.

I waited 20 years from when I was first diagnosed with Emphysema. When it started to get bad I signed up. I went the their Doctor for an evaluation. After 6 months waiting period a girl called me on the phone and told me something stupid so I just told her I reckon I will talk to a Lawyer then.

Few days later the 1st check was deposited in my Bank account.