From bird lice to COPD sensations, the body always tells the truth

When I was in elementary school, I told my parents that something was crawling on me at night. They exchanged the kind of knowing look adults give when they think a child is expressing emotion instead of sensation. They suspected school stress or a plea to sleep between them. But I wasn’t asking for comfort. I was reporting data.

Living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) now, I recognize that moment more clearly than ever. Breathlessness, fatigue, chest tightness — these can be dismissed just as quickly. “You’re anxious.” “You’re out of shape.” “You’re overthinking it.” The body sends a signal, and the world offers a psychological explanation. I learned early what it feels like to have a real physical sensation waved away as imagination.

My parents, both trained in the Normal School tradition, believed in observation and child development theories. So they devised a plan: My mother would sleep with me to prove that nothing was wrong. She hadn’t been in the bed long when she called out to my father that it was not my imagination. Something was crawling on us.

The culprit was living just above my ceiling. My father had been repairing the overhang of our hipped‑roof house and hadn’t yet replaced the screens on the vents. A starling had slipped in and built a nest right over my bedroom. And she had lice. My father removed the nest, telling me, with a gentleness I now recognize as protective fiction, that he placed it in the willow tree with the eggs. As an adult, I doubt that part. But I do know the pesticide he sprayed took care of the lice, and I finally slept again.

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That childhood moment taught me something I didn’t have words for then: My body notices things early. It speaks up before others see the cause. And sometimes, the people around me interpret those signals through their own lenses — stress, imagination, overreaction — instead of trusting that I might be feeling something real.

COPD has brought that lesson back with sharper edges. Symptoms can be subtle, shifting, or invisible to others. A tightness that wasn’t there yesterday. A breath that doesn’t land quite right. A fatigue that feels heavier than it should. And still, the world can be quick to explain it away.

But the body doesn’t lie. It didn’t lie when I was 8 years old, and it doesn’t lie now.

For anyone living with COPD, I want to say this plainly: You are allowed to believe your own sensations. You are allowed to speak up when something feels off. You are allowed to insist on being heard, even if others can’t feel what you feel. Sometimes the truth is as small as a starling’s louse — invisible to everyone else until someone finally lies down beside you and listens.

Note: COPD News Today is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of COPD News Today or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues related to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.