Hope for COPD

My lil Tiny last summer in Myrtle Beach. So, things are kinda crazy in my life right now. Most of you know about the move, I still haven't made... Too many loose ends to tie up before I can do that. Had a friend that needed a place to stay, she stole from me, and has tried to cause trouble for me. Oh well... Won't be helping her again. This old house is FULL of stuff from my parents and I have to find a way to get rid of all of the things left here, get the yard in order, and all presentable. Thing is I have zero help. So, I have to hire help to take care of everything. Good help is hard to find.  Also, some of you might remember my trip from hell last summer... Well, I am going again. Call me crazy, I know. Haha. Just can't let my father go alone. Hoping to get over this massive chest cold before we leave on Friday. Remember, if you have COPD, you want to take an expectorant, NOT a suppressant. An expectorant will help thin the mucus in your lungs and you will be be...

Pause, almost over? So, you have noticed my absence and missed me! I have been so busy with my father moving, getting ready to sell his old house (the one I still live in), and enjoying the weather (not really, my allergies are killing me), and teaching Tiny, that I haven't posted anything new in quite some time! Since he moved, we have realized that autopay on for the internet stopped when we all of the sudden had no internet! GASP!!! (dramatically puts back of hand to forehead and faints) Hope for COPD is important to me, so I will be back full blast in September. After the internet outage, I came back online to several thousand emails which I promptly deleted versus trying to sift through all of them. I will be scheduling all tweets for September and October this month because I will be moving at the end of August or sometime in September,down to Missouri with my father, unless plans change.  If you have emailed me and need to speak with me, or would like to work on...

VACATION As I write this I am holding back tears. Some of you may remember that I went on vacation recently. This vacation was terrible. Do you know what it is like to have an aging parent that also suffers from anger issues? Someone that can be very controlling and manipulative? Abusive? The drive there... The entire drive was constantly, get in that lane... Turn here, turn there, hurry up and get in the other lane... WHILE listening to the GPS tell me what to do as well. He would demand I change lanes,even though there was a car right next to us that I would crash into if I listened to him. I was going too slow, too fast, not using the cruise control...  In Virginia, I got pulled over for speeding, 81 in a 70. The officer said I was doing 84, I didn't argue, and that my license was expired. So obviously I could not legally drive and my father took over. Swerving in and out of traffic and my daughter began to get car sick. So I asked him to stay in one lane and get a ...

27 Healthy Changes for COPD When you have COPD or any chronic illness, it is important to make sure that you are taking care of your health. We all fall into bad habits, or just lose track of goals. We need to eat right, but that microwaveable meal is so much easier to make! Right? Our goals vary as well. Some need to lose weight, while others need to gain a few pounds. But, what simple things can be done to boost our health and well being? Here are 27 easy things to do for your health. Simple changes, slowly over time, will be a huge benefit. Try one or two new things each day. Right after waking, drink a 6 ounce glass of water. Have smoothie for breakfast. The fruit and veggies will provide lots of nutrition and fiber. Skip your morning coffee and have your favorite tea instead. Caffeine in coffee  may cause a stress response in your body. Drink at least one, 6 ounce glass of water  for every 10 pounds you weigh each day. This will keep your body we...

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...

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 ...

#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 ...

#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...

Dearest You, I just want to take a few minutes to thank you for reading, commenting, sharing! It really means a lot to me that you read my posts, share my tweets. I hope that the content I put out is helpful to you, and if there is anything you would like me to cover just leave a comment for me!  You are the reason I do this every day! We need to be informed so that we can make educated decisions about our care, or the care of a loved one.  As we spread information, we help patients learn about their illness. Not only are we helping others with COPD, but other chronic illnesses as well. We are keeping information fresh in medical professionals minds, raising awareness to the issues we as patients face.  As some of you may know, my mission this year is to erase the stigma that comes with a COPD diagnosis. That stigma, is preventing much needed funding for research, and the research itself to be done. Don't get me wrong, there IS research being done and...