COPD - The Human Story

You can be upset because rosebushes have thorns
Or you can rejoice because thornbushes have roses.
Author Unknown

This series of articles are by or about individuals who have COPD. In any case the story centers around the human element. These individuals know that they are not quitters and intend to fight the disease the best way they know how. Maybe your story needs to be here. While many stories are similar, you will see that they are all different. That is the nature of this disease.

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I Died in March 1998

Cecil died in March 1998 but was resuscitated, quit smoking and found the COPD Online Support Mailing List. Read how things have changed.

Taking COPD Seriously

Dorothy Williams shakes her head and wonders what is going to happen next. She has had medical problems but now finds herself with COPD but not in the advanced stages that others discuss in these pages. In discussing the point of Dorothy's story, she said, "I agree that the whole point to my story.... if I have anything to say at all... is Don't wait until you crash to believe you have COPD! That's the main thing I have learned from the COPD List."

Easy Rider - Ain't So Easy

Pat Dooley rides motorcycles with his oxygen tank carried along and his touch of a beard breaking the breeze as he travels along from place to place. Pat believes that to live with COPD one must accept, adapt, adjust and overcome. He knows that you can not overcome the disease itself, but through a proper attitude can overcome its effects.

A Chance At Life

Karen was diagnosed with COPD at 22 years of age. By then, Karen was used to hospitals and medical procedures as she had been in and out of the operating room since she was a baby. Karen carries on and illustrates that attitude has a lot to do with "Living With COPD".

That "Other Lady" Is Gone Forever!

Donna has been fighting a variety of ills for a number of years, including COPD, and had to struggle with the battle to quit smoking. With a lot of determination, a good attitude and a very supportive family, she has shed the skin of that "Other Lady" and serves now as a model for us all.

It's Not Easy Being Green!

Ed Costello was a staunch Irishman and lived life, even with COPD, to the fullest possible. While considered a good candidate for Lung Volume Reduction Surgery, in Ed's case it was of little help. He passed away about a year after surgery. Ed instructed his family to celebrate his living, not his death and his wife, Joan, tells their story. In the eulogy that his son, Mike, delivered at the wake, he summed up Ed's positive attitude toward living. Mike said, "All our memories of Ed Costello are of a strong, virile man, full of vitality and with an aggressive love of life. The toll his battle with COPD took over the past three years can do nothing to diminish those memories".

A Bit About papapoo

I have had a number of folks ask me about my story so decided I might as well add it. Perhaps we can entice some of the guys to follow my lead and let me tell theirs too.

Waiting and Writing

Glenda had breathing problems for over twelve years now and continued to fight the good fight. She was considered as a candidate for Lung Volume Reduction Surgery and even began the journey to ready herself for evaluation for a lung transplant. Unfortunately in January 2000 she gave up the good fight after a long bout with pneumonia. Glenda's story includes a poem which she wrote and was typical of the many poems that she wrote over the years.

Up Up and Away, Shooing COPD Blues Away

Sylvia was busy planning on attending two important weddings last year when she crashed! (That is, the disease got so bad she ended up in the hospital and things were not going very well.) Interestingly enough, while her plans did not turn out as expected, she now considers herself an airline regular.

Dawn In The South

Way down south in Mississippi and close to the Gulf of Mexico is a delightful lady who seems to sleep days and stays up all night. When she is not chatting with her COPD friends she is working on her families' genealogy or making useful crafts out of practically nothing. A southern belle she is and an inspiration to us all. Darla can find a silver lining on every cloud that darkens the sky. This story features the first original illustration by Jan Frankie who is featured in Drawing the Line on COPD below.

Drawing The Line on COPD

Jan ensured a long line of descendants by having six children which are scattered all over the United States. Jan, who is an Arizona girl, is actually part of the "staff" because she will be lending her artistic talents to provide original drawings to illustrate this site. Jan is like many of us. Reasonably early diagnosis of a danger, but with a belief that it would not happen to her, she continued to smoke. If there is a silver lining, it is that because of her disability, she learned that she had artistic talent.

Like a fish out of water
By Brenda J. Hoilman, RN

She earned the Fishing Lady title because of her email address, bjflounder. She coined this email "handle" because she has always had a love for the seacoast, beach sand, sea breezes, waving beach reeds, and fishing. At the tender age of 50 she wanted to spend time with her grandson and planned another fishing trip. While she did make this fishing trip and loved every minute of it, the COPD took control of her body just a few months later and she died on November 28, 1998. She will be missed by all who knew her.

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