Hi everyone!
I myself don’t have COPD but my mother does. She was diagnosed almost 5 years ago. When she was first diagnosed, I wasn’t extremely worried, but the past year I started googling information and have had intense anxiety about how long she’ll be around. I think I have more anxiety about it than my mom does lol.
To give some information, she is in her mid 50s right now. She was diagnosed as severe and immediately stopped smoking. Over the past 5 years she has improved her FEV score and has gone from severe to mild/moderate. Her doctor said her CT scans look much “clearer” and where they should be given her smoking history. She does seem to have a lower DLCO which causes her the most issues. That being said, she’s not on oxygen and seems to live life pretty normally. She doesn’t like to walk super fast and if she does a lot of activity she gets out of breath. I’ve seen her have a couple “exacerbations” but she’s never hospitalised and doesn’t get sick. I think she is now learning when she can push herself and when she can’t.
She remains active, positive and doesn’t complain. She has been on a journey to lose some weight and take better care of herself. She tells me she plans to work until retirement and see my kids have kids. She also trusts medicine and improvements so much. She says she’s fortunate to have the level of care she does. I hope it’s true but I just get scared. If she gets out of breath now, I’m scared to see what will happen in 10 years?
I know no one can predict life expectancy, but are people living longer with COPD? Is it possible to live 20-30 years after a diagnoses. Are they making medical advancements? Just looking for some hope I guess.