Lots of questions and comments here about the lack of attention, knowledge and support for COPD relative to other diseases. I think we suffer from being an invisible illness in that other than oxygen use in public which only applies to some of us, we look and in most cases act "normal." We may move slower or avoid certain activities but this isn't seen by the public. That works against us.
The more serious issue is that financial resources are limited for individuals, groups and governments and often the money goes to organizations that each of us has a personal connection to. In my case besides my COPD, my wife is a breast cancer survivor and has had heart surgery, my father had MS and dementia, my mother had skin cancer. So while I am highly motivated to support these groups in dilutes my support of each.
We all also get bombarded with requests, information and material from in some cases hundreds of worthy groups.
So the question is how do we stand apart, how do we stand out, how do we break through the clutter, how do we make ourselves more visible, more deserving, better at wisely spending the dollars we get, better at marketing our cause?
We can sit back and blame discrimination but I don't think it gets us anywhere.
How do we become unique and top of mind?????