Life Tethered to a Concentrator — Caroline Gainer

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Caroline Gainer is from West Virginia, the state with the highest rate of COPD in the United States. She was diagnosed with moderate-to-severe COPD in 2013 after a pneumothorax (lung collapse). After two more lung collapses she was diagnosed as severe. She has been very active with the American Lung Association and the COPD Foundation as an advocate for people with lung disease. She hopes that her column, “Life Tethered to a Concentrator,” will inspire others to live their best life with COPD.

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After a trifecta of illness, I’m again breathing without thinking about it

Last fall, I had shingles, diverticulitis, and an upper respiratory infection, all within four weeks. I call that period a trifecta of illness. In the months after the trifecta swept through me, even my chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) breathlessness felt heavier, as if it had inherited its own…

Caroline Gainer

Getting better with COPD means doing the work the way our ancestors did

Getting better with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) isn’t a passive hope. It’s a practice of daily choosing, and sometimes it feels like the choosing is the hardest part. No one hands you a syllabus when you’re diagnosed. There’s no neat checklist taped to the refrigerator that says,…

A tip on oxygen concentrator maintenance: Try ‘blowing the drip’

Growing up in West Virginia, free natural gas was one of those peculiar perks of living along the oil and gas rights-of-way. Landowners granted access in exchange for this benefit, and it kept our homes warm — but not without complications. On the coldest nights, the gas would sputter out,…

What an old racehorse taught me about being first with COPD

My husband and I once took two foster kids for a horseback ride at a friend’s stable, hoping to give them a memory that would settle into their bones and stay there. When we arrived, all but three of the steady, predictable horses were already spoken for. The only one…

What a cat and a kangaroo mouse taught me about living with COPD

Herbie was a kangaroo mouse with a taste for luxury. Not the kind you’d find in catalogs or corner offices, but the kind that came from Snowball’s belly — soft tufts of fur pulled gently through the bars of his cage to line his nest. Snowball, a long-haired white cat…

Living with COPD doesn’t mean you can’t age with grace

They say aging well after 70 can be measured in small victories, such as standing from a low chair without using your hands, remembering appointments without a calendar, or lifting a laundry basket without strain. I smiled as I recently read an article about 10 such signs, because I’m…

Having structure in my recovery routine helps me stay grounded

After a challenging period of illness that included shingles, diverticulitis, and a respiratory infection, I found myself profoundly weakened. My muscles had softened, my breath felt shallow, and even the smallest tasks left me winded. I knew I needed to start moving again, but I also recognized that I couldn’t…

I’m bringing my cheerleader’s pompoms to the long game of COPD

As is true with almost everything concerning my chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), my mental health requires some effort on my part. Just as I monitor my breath, adjust my pace, and adapt my routines, I also have to take care of my own emotional well-being. The antidepressant I…

Weighty matters: Why 140 pounds no longer haunts me

I will soon be 82, and my weight has been an issue since being diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). For most of my adult life, I weighed 113 pounds and was 5 feet, 1 inch tall. My doctor’s nurse quipped that if the scale didn’t say 113,…


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