Life Tethered to a Concentrator — Caroline Gainer

I’ve been struggling lately to maintain my normally positive focus on life and living. It’s been perplexing to try to figure out why I’ve been falling further off the gloom-and-doom cliff. I eventually realized that I haven’t been doing…

I recently posted in COPD360social, the COPD Foundation’s online community, that I’ve been requiring more sleep than usual. That represents a change in thinking for me. Normally, I would’ve told myself, “Get up. What’s wrong with you? Are…

You know that Dolly Parton song where she tumbles out of bed, stumbles to the kitchen, and pours herself a cup of ambition? A recent day was one of those days when I need more than one…

I was scrolling through Facebook recently and found a friend’s post that shared his life philosophy. That philosophy? Forget yesterday, live for today, and hope for a better tomorrow. If yesterday was a bad day because of the weather,…

Many people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) live alone, and because we must exercise care not to get whatever bug might be going around, we often must limit our excursions away from home. Both factors can make…

Note: This column describes the author’s own experiences with phenazopyridine hydrochloride and cranberry juice for urinary tract infections. Not everyone will have the same response to treatment. Consult your doctor before starting or stopping a therapy. As…

No matter how well I plan or how much I want to do something, I have to remember that my chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is in control. One such reminder happened two weeks ago, as I was…

Each year here in West Virginia, the Greenbrier Clinic, where I have my yearly physical, sends me a complete list of my vaccinations and when the boosters are due. I make every effort to stay current with them because…

About a year ago, I attended a conference that addressed the topic of cascades of care, which an editorial in American Family Physician defined as “a seemingly unstoppable succession of medical services often initiated by an unnecessary test…

A few weeks ago, I wrote about overcoming my fears about traveling from my home in West Virginia to Philadelphia, where I’ll be attending the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) conference on Nov. 13.

For those of us with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), avoiding exacerbations — or flare-ups — is a top priority. The question is, what tools are available to help us do that? Some of them are…

Those of us with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who use oxygen therapy must have a backup plan for emergencies like power outages and equipment failure. Even if you don’t use oxygen, it’s crucial to have an…