Have you ever heard yourself say, "Oh, if I only knew then what I know now...”? I know I’ve said that myself— more than once! As we look back, we may feel that way about many aspects of our lives, and one of those is COPD.
Over the last few months, we’ve talked a lot here on the Check-in about keeping a daily routine for good COPD management---knowing what tends to cause COPD exacerbations and how to avoid them, working with our health care providers on a COPD action plan, understanding how the lungs work, quitting smoking, understanding lung testing, paying attention to air quality, and just last month, different kinds of communication.
Some of you here have a wealth of knowledge, have beaten the odds, and do remarkable things in spite of your COPD! Some others of you are newer to COPD—just beginning to learn about it and how to manage it. I know we talk a lot here about moving forward and not spending too much time looking in that rear-view mirror, but today it’s okay to look back a bit.
Here we go…
For those of you who are more experienced with effective COPD management, what do you know now, that you wish you had known when you were a newbie? What would have made your life with COPD easier and better? Do you now have a set of routines that help you day to day?
If you are somebody who’s been diagnosed with COPD more recently, what do you wish you would have known when you were in the process of testing and diagnosis? What do you wish you had known when you began to face changes brought on by COPD?
We’d also like to hear about your experience in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic—how you dealt with it early on when there was little known about it, and what you are doing now that we’re more informed.
Whether you’re a person who was diagnosed with COPD some time ago, or one who has been diagnosed just recently, please know that the thoughts shared here will help others in our community. It will help those we see here, who participate in this forum, as well as those we don’t see—those who choose to “lurk and learn,” but are nonetheless valued members of this community.
So… what do you wish you knew? Let's talk! I look forward to hearing from you!
Here are some additional resources:
Newly Diagnosed with COPD - Learn More - COPD Foundation
Video of Facebook Premiere Event: Inhaler Technique and Maintaining a Daily Routine
COPD Inhaler Educational Video Series | COPD Foundation
What is an Exacerbation or Flare Up | COPD Foundation
MyCOPDActionPlan.pdf (copdfoundation.org)
Check in - How is Your Air? (copdfoundation.org)
Check in – Stressing about testing? Learn more about what COPD testing involves to calm your fears (copdfoundation.org)
For even more information, follow this link and click on “Learn More.”