Hope for COPD

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 ...

Severe Asthma NEW CLINICAL STUDY SEEKING SEVERE ASTHMA PARTICIPANTS If you have Severe Asthma and your current symptoms are not well controlled, this study may be right for you. Despite standard treatment, up to 50% of asthma patients have symptoms that are not well controlled, with a negative impact on quality of life. The purpose of this research study is to assess the safety and effectiveness of the investigational drug when administered in severe asthma patients whose symptoms are otherwise uncontrolled with current standard therapy. More about the study: The study drug (Benralizumab) is administered by Subcutaneous injection (SC). This trial is 48 – 56 weeks long, requiring 17 – 19 visits and 0 overnight stays If you are interested, full study details and eligibility criteria are listed here . Eligibility Criteria: Participants must: between 12 – 75 years old have asthma diagnosed by a doctor. have been treated with an inhaler in the past 3 months have had at least 1 exacerbatio...

This month is National Donate Life Month.  People of all ages, and all ethnic backgrounds are needed to help others live. Even those with a chronic illness can donate their organs!  When I first found out about my illness, I thought I may need to have my name removed as a registered donor. But, I can still save lives!  Becoming an organ donor is a very big decision to make. But, it is one of the most loving gifts you can give. Saving the lives of not just one person, but several. Who knows, it could even be one of your family members or friends.  Unlike organs, tissue can be processed and stored for an extended period of time for use in burn cases, ligament repair, bone replacement, etc. (American Association of Tissue Banks, 2010). Every year, lifesaving and life-enhancing tissue is provided by approximately 30,000 tissue donors. One tissue donor can enhance the lives of more than 50 people. Organ donors are celebrated eve...

#2 of the April Stress Awareness Month Series (games and humor) Here are a few more ways to relive some of that stress! I am a gamer, and find that games can help me become less stressed. Depending on your tastes and mood, there is a game out there for you. Whether it is online on your desktop or laptop, on your phone or tablet, or on a gaming system. You will never know until you try it.  Today, I am only including online games for desktop or laptop.  HUMOR!!! The best medicine! I am including a few videos to watch. Maybe not your taste in humor... But, you can find what you like on YouTube. That wonderful video service, with famous comedians, and even more YouTube personalities to keep you smiling.  GAMES: Here are some games to play right at your computer... Take a Walk Meditation Flowers Bubbul Aggressive Bee Sting Snowflake Memory Aggressive Destroy the Computer Flower Reaction The Pig If you have a gaming system, ...

April is Stress Awareness month.  Having COPD, or any chronic illness can cause your stress level to be elevated, consistently more so, than normal. Stress, is BAD for your health.  So, this month, I am choosing to focus on ways to reduce stress and organ donation. As it is also National Donate Life Month. I hope you enjoy the posts and find them helpful.  I created this series of posts to help bring awareness, find ways to combat stress, and let you know that you are never alone!  What is stress? Stress is a state of mental strain, emotional strain, or tension resulting from unfortunate or very difficult circumstance. Internally our bodies all react the same way to stress. Our muscles tighten, our breathing becomes more shallow, your heart beats faster, your blood pressure rises. Because our bodies are working so hard,  this depletes our energy and taxes our immune system.  Externally we freeze up, zone out, bec...