Life Tethered to a Concentrator — Caroline Gainer

Many of us with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have received medical devices to help with our breathing. At first, it seemed to me that some of these devices worked better than others.

I’m dealing with a new symptom of my chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): excess mucus. It has to be expelled, since I have trouble coughing it up on my own. That’s why…

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is often accompanied by several comorbidities, including heart disease, osteoporosis, anxiety, and depression. Two of my prominent comorbidities are gastroesophageal reflux disease and osteoarthritis. When…

Someone asked me recently what I miss about my life before I had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Without hesitation, I answered that I missed being spontaneous. I can’t just decide, for example,…

Carrying a portable oxygen concentrator (POC) or tank in a backpack is undeniably inconvenient. However, it’s important to remember that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients are in a much better position…

My inner voice went bananas last week. I couldn’t make a simple decision, such as when was the best day to go to the drugstore to get my prescriptions. I am sure that age…

I feel like crap, but I’m not badly sick. I decide I might as well get busy so I can feel accomplished at the end of the day. I make this decision often, but…

Last week, I noticed that it took very little for me to find an excuse to put off exercise. This isn’t normal for me, so I decided it was time for a change. I…

As a gardener, I sometimes imagine my mind as a garden full of various plants. Advocating for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients while living with the disease myself sometimes causes a few…

Incontinence ranks right up there with religion and politics as topics we don’t usually mention in polite company, partly because it’s embarrassing. But let’s discuss it anyway, because it affects many patients with…

For two weeks, I’ve gone to at least two doctor appointments a week to learn what’s causing me stomach problems atop my chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but I still don’t have a…

If, 58 years ago, I had hated cigarettes as much as I hate them now, I probably wouldn’t have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, that isn’t guaranteed, as two other risk factors…