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.

Losing myself, finding myself: How recovery is harder with COPD

There are times in life when illness doesn’t just slow you down— it rearranges you. I didn’t see it happening at first. I thought I was simply tired or behind, in need of a weekend to catch up. But slowly, almost quietly, I began to lose the version of myself…

My public debut tethered to my portable personal oxygen device

I remember my first outing with my Philips Respironics SimplyGo portable oxygen concentrator (POC) like it was yesterday. The reason I remember it now is because it’ll soon be time to use it again for the State Fair of West Virginia. My friend and I had tickets…

How slowing down helps me manage fatigue with COPD

Many of us with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) struggle with fatigue. I haven’t resolved the issue to my satisfaction, so I continue to seek ways to cope. My latest solution is to try to be more like the tortoise than the hare. In my early years…

Weighing the benefits and side effects of my COPD medications

Note: This column describes the author’s own experiences with several chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) medications. Not everyone will have the same response to treatment. Consult your doctor before starting or stopping a therapy. Medications often bring side effects, and COPD therapies are no exception. We may…

‘Rocking and spitting’: How to vet COPD information online

I remember the old country store that used to be in a little town near our farm. It had a front porch that must’ve been about 40 feet long, with several rocking chairs and spittoons scattered about. The men of the town would lounge in the rockers and chew their…

Staying positive and busy are good for my COPD and mental health

I’m fortunate to be a glass-half-full person. Since being diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), I’ve had to take deliberate actions to keep myself on the positive side of the spectrum. One of the tactics I employ for this purpose is to keep my mind occupied and my…

My animals keep me motivated as I navigate life with COPD

Those of us with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) sometimes struggle to stay motivated to do the things that keep us healthy. My animals keep me focused and get me out of bed, even when I don’t want to get up. They must be fed and cared for in…

Exercise can help with COPD, so I make it fun with trail hiking

Staying active can help ease the symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Sometimes I find this challenging because I get tired of doing the same exercises or going to the same places to walk. I have tried to lessen the boredom by changing up my…

How I finish my housework while managing COPD and fatigue

My mother taught me that once you start a job, you need to finish it — or at least do as much as you can — before quitting. With chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), I’ve learned to complete my home projects a little differently. As I mentioned last…

How planning has helped me to live better with COPD

Most of us with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have probably told our friends that our plans are always penciled in so that they can be easily changed. If that is true, why am I talking about planning? Because having a plan helps us not to fail. The first one…

I’m proof that improvement is possible after a COPD exacerbation

Progress is often painfully slow when managing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and recovering from exacerbations, but improvement is possible. Please allow me to relate an example from my personal experience. Since I was released from the hospital on Aug. 16, 2022, following an exacerbation of my disease,…

Here’s a fun way to do breathing exercises as a COPD patient

For those of us with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the objective of most of our treatments is to improve breathing. Some medications act to open our airways. These are called bronchodilators. We have other medicines and devices to clear the airways of mucus. And we…

How humming and nasal irrigation have helped me avoid infection

Usually, by this point in the spring, I’ve had at least one upper respiratory infection — a common complication of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). My last one was particularly problematic and led to double pneumonia. I was in the hospital for eight days and required noninvasive ventilation for…

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