Anyone with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) knows that getting started can be the hardest part of the day. There’s a kind of friction — physical, mental, emotional — that makes the first steps feel heavier than they used to. Routines reduce that friction. When a sequence becomes familiar,…
Life Tethered to a Concentrator - a Column by Caroline Gainer
Some days the body whispers; other days it hollers. Mine hollered this week. What it said, I did not want to hear. “It’s one thing a day for a while.” As a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) advocate, I knew that this time might come. I woke up with…
When I was a girl, I begged my father to let me keep a disabled biddy. The chicken was tiny, off‑balance, and needed more help than the others. I promised him I’d take care of it. I meant it with all the sincerity a child can muster. But…
Living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) means learning to measure your energy the way other people measure ingredients. Every chore, errand, and meal asks for a little breath, strength, and stamina, and some days, you simply don’t have much to spare. Over the years, I’ve learned that the…
Note: This column describes the author’s experiences with Voltaren. Not everyone will have the same response to treatment. Consult your doctor before starting or stopping a therapy. There’s a particular kind of pain that settles low in the back, right over those little dimples on each side of the spine.
Portable oxygen is a marvel of modern medicine, but anyone who carries it knows it comes with limitations that don’t show up in the brochures. The ads always feature someone strolling through life with a sleek device slung over their shoulder, smiling as if nothing has changed. But real life…
Some mornings in these mountains start with a heaviness I can feel before I even swing my feet out of bed. Not the heaviness of sorrow, though life hands us plenty of that, but the heaviness of breath. The kind that tells me my lungs are already negotiating with…
Living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has made me pay closer attention to the small, unexpected comforts that steady us. The quiet moments that teach us how to accept help, how to rest, and how to let gentleness find us. I didn’t recognize those lessons when I was…
Ragweed season has rolled in again, announced by the weather service with all the drama of a storm warning. They call it a “pollen outbreak,” but anyone living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) knows it’s more than a line in the forecast. It’s like someone shook a dusty…
Living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) means living by a rhythm — a quiet, steady kind that keeps the breath moving and the body from slipping into trouble. For years, my morning and evening routine from pulmonary rehabilitation had been my anchor. It wasn’t glamorous, but it worked.
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