Life Tethered to a Concentrator — Caroline Gainer

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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,…

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…

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…

While the name of this column is “Life Tethered to a Concentrator,” so far, I haven’t yet discussed my journey with long-term supplemental oxygen. Today, I’d like to take you along on that journey. I was in denial — one of the five stages of grief —…