Hope for COPD

Website Makeover As some of you might remember, Hope for COPD has a website. One that hasn't been used for several months. One that, I, the creator, have no idea how to beautifully create. LOL This is why it has not been promoted. Some months ago, I started working with a great company and learning a lot from them. I was hoping to have them work on my website. But, then when it came time I was told they don't work on general sites like mine, and that the $20000.00 would most likely be out of my budget. Boy where they right! So, I have come up with some new ideas, and been playing around with the site off and on since then. Hope for COPD went from being a small thing... A few hours a week spend reading COPD related research and articles and blogging and tweeting about them... To a full time job, with countless hours spend each week researching relevant content and scheduling tweets, interacting with my Twitter followers and Facebook group. And, I LOVE it! I am so ha...

Addressing Mental Health Before Stage 4 (#B4Stage4)  When we think about cancer, heart disease, or diabetes, we don’t wait years to treat them. We start before Stage 4—we begin with prevention. When people are in the first stage of those diseases, and are beginning to show signs of symptoms like a persistent cough, high blood pressure, or high blood sugar, we try immediately to reverse these symptoms. We don’t ignore them. In fact, we develop a plan of action to reverse and sometimes stop the progression of the disease.  So why aren’t we doing the same for individuals who are dealing with potentially serious mental illness?  When you or someone close to you starts to experience the early warning signs of mental illness, knowing what the risk factors and symptoms are will help to catch them early. Often times, family and friends are the first to step in to support a person through these early stages. Experiencing symptoms such as loss of sleep, feeling tired for n...

May is Better Sleep Month Getting a restful nights sleep is essential to your health. For those with chronic illness, it may be a real struggle. Many, have trouble falling asleep, and staying asleep for a variety of reasons. I would venture to say most, but don't quote me.  What ever the reason, Americans are not getting enough sleep in general. If you have a chronic illness, it is just icing on the sleep thief's  cake. Some are "tied up" to an oxygen machine, cpap or bi-pap machine, making sleep less comfortable. Others suffer from chronic pain and that pain flares and awakens them frequently.  And, for some, medications may cause a disruption in your ability to get to sleep and stay asleep. Many have minds with no off button. When your mind is constantly on, you can't relax and get some sleep. Many of your thoughts are about bills, tasks that need completed at work or home.  The vast majority of retail workers never have t...

COPD Unaware A guest post by Duke Reeves  Despite the advances in medicine and technology, COPD rates and the financial burden of COPD continue to rise. While part of the rising rates can be attributed to a growing population, the bottom line is that the majority of COPD cases are preventable through awareness and education.  The most common symptoms and signs of COPD are shortness of breath, chest tightness, coughing up mucus, and a chronic cough. Looking at these symptoms, it’s easy to see how we can brush them off and assume they are from a common cold or old age. However, by brushing these symptoms off we are setting ourselves up for a potentially rude awakening. COPD is a progressive disease which means the longer it goes untreated the more damage it’s going to cause. The best way to ensure you live a full life with COPD is by catching the disease as early as possible. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) predicted COPD would become the 3 rd leading cause of...

Stress Awareness Month #4 8 Items to relieve stress!  While I love movies, music, and games to help relieve stress... Sometimes, I am just not in the mood for them. Exercise, breathing, and humor, are things that work well too. But, what are some other things you can do? Well, here are MORE ideas on how you can reduce that terrible stress! Here are some of my favorite items! I am only suggesting one supplement, one I have used for many years. This B Complex can help provide energy, restful sleep, and is a immune system booster. Great for times of great stress, or as a general everyday supplement.  Nature Made Stress Complex Tablets My eldest daughter suffers from terrible anxiety and has found this first item to be something that really helps her. It is a great stress reliever too! And, I have to play with it when I visit her. LOVE this stuff! Kinetic Sand Because we have COPD, we must be careful of the air quality we are breathing into our fragile ...

8 Tips for proper COPD medication adherence Taking your medication on time, at the right times, throughout the day will benefit you more than taking them at random when ever you remember to take them. Some people really struggle to remember how to take them as advised, and of course, to even bother taking them at all. I cannot tell you how many times I have forgotten to take them until it was almost bedtime!  Here are my top 6 tips on how to take your medications properly, and on time. Write the directions down on a piece of paper in the order that your doctor recommends you take them. You can also type them out on your computer using a font that appeals to use and enlarge them to fit 1 sheet of paper. Print that paper and put it in a plastic sheet protector . No matter how you do this, keep the list in the place you spend the most time in your home. Maybe that is the kitchen, on the end table next to your favorite chair in the living room, in the wall in the bath...

#3 in the Stress Awareness Month Series Breathing and Exercise Breathing can pull you out of a rage, or stressful moment... It can help quell your pain, calm you when upset... Breathing is a very basic function, yet one we take for granted until the day we have trouble doing it.  Yoga and Qi Gong can be very gentle, very effective forms of exercise. Do as much as you can... Time yourself, and every week, add another minute or two. Try your best to get in at least a full 30 minutes. Break it up as you please, 1 30 minutes session, 2 15 minutes sessions, 3 10 minutes sessions. Build up more time each week, but don't over do it! Try to not go over 60 minutes a day.  Here are some videos that focus on breathing:   4 - 7 - 8 Breathing Technique This one works very well! You are getting sleepy, sleeeepeeee. Because we have COPD please exhale for as long as it takes to clear your lungs. Repeat steps 4 times... Don't do this one more than ...