Changes

Today I was thinking back to when I was first diagnosed. It was not a surprise to me as I had been having difficulty breathing for quite some time. I realized that I had an important choice to make. I could either fight the disease or learn to live with it. As I learned from my doctors that there was nothing that could be done to make my COPD disappear, I gradually came to the conclusion that I would simply have to learn to live with it. That is, my life would now be defined by this condition and it would continue to change as the disease changed. If you
have COPD, you will understand what a difficult choice this was for me to make. I started on oxygen and was surprised at what a blessing that was. It made my life so much easier. Now my daily business is possible again, although much slower and I can continue to live alone and care for myself and my needs. I have bigger challenges to face in the future, but for now I
am comfortable with my life as it is. I chose to live with COPD and embrace it as a life style. And not simply cope with it and feel it was something that was holding me back or was a hindrance to me in my daily life. If you have COPD you will understand what a big hard choice that was for me to make.

I had a surprise phone call from Steve, my ex oxygen delivery man. It was so nice to hear from him. He is now fighting his own battle with stopping smoking. I know he can do it. He and his wife Andrea have been my friends for quite a few years now. He was one of my support people and I miss him coming every 2 weeks, his upbeat personality, his nice smile and how between the two of us we could solve all the world’s problems in just a few minutes.

Today is just another day, another good day. My breathing is much better today. The humidity has dropped and the rain is gone. The elephant is no longer sitting on my chest.