Emphysema

[Outhwaite]

I was disguised with it in my 30's and now I am 74 years old. I smoked from when I was about 14 years old and didn't give up until 2012. I am on a double inhaler containing two drugs as a preventative and have one as a reliever . I also take 2 Phyllocontin tablets each day.

[mrsmummy]

I smoked too. We pay a heavy price for our youthful indiscretions don't we?

[phyllis_liberty]

Wow...I salute you!!!

[Outhwaite in reply to phyllis_liberty]

I wish you all the best and hope you get good treatment from your doctor.Do you still work and do you live in the UK? The medication can be extremely expensive.

[phyllis_liberty in reply to Outhwaite]

I live in the U.S. i don't work.

[Outhwaite in reply to phyllis_liberty]

Ok, I hope you have a good Insurance Policy. I'm not sure how things are done in the states, but I used to have a cyber friend in Alabama and she was using all her Insurance and Pension Fund to help her daughter who had cancer. The poor girl wasn't making much of a recovery and she was getting very low on funds. I hope you are not in the same boat, and that you can get the medication you require.

[phyllis_liberty in reply to Outhwaite]

Thank you, yes I have family helping me...always there for me. 😊

[Outhwaite]

I have a nebuliiser as well, but hardly use it. Maybe once a month at most. In fact, I think I have only used it 3 times so far this year. If I get a chest infection and it is really bad, then I might have to use it more. My GP is excellent and and always gives me Ampicillin to keep indoors so if I am not well, I don't have to visit him,. I could have Prednisolone steroids if I wanted them, but I don't take them as the side effects are so bad. I once went 90 hours without sleep because of them, and I was working at the time and they made me really act like a mad personm so now I keep away from them. I don't expect other people get these weird things happening, as I have a friend who has to take them quite regularly and they don't affect her badly in any way.

[joyce74 in reply to Outhwaite]

Maybe your doctor could have you take a smaller dose of the steroids possibly leading to less side effects. I sleep less when taking them, eat more and have more energy.

[Outhwaite in reply to joyce74]

It is weird what they do to me even on a small dose. I can't sleep and don't want to eat. I lost a stone in weight in one week and at the time I was already underweight. I go into a mental frenzy and become abusive as well, so I would only take them if there was no other option to clear up a very bad chest infection and have to be hospitalised.

[tracyball1]

Glad you are doing ok Outhwaite, is that where you live, is it in Derbyshire? x

[Outhwaite in reply to tracyball1]

Hi Tracy...I live in the East End of London. The pollution is awful from all the cars, a lot of which use diesel. I use a mobility scooter since I had two strokes and a heart attack. How I have reached the age of 74 is quite beyond me. I suffered with asthma from the age of 18 months old and was still stupid enough to start smoking. Why do you think I live in Derbyshire? Unless it is my surname. It is my maiden name which I reverted to after my husband died at 47 All my family come from London. I have a very good GP who does his best for me.

Hope you are feeling well today....regards, Val.

[Ray47 in reply to Outhwaite]

Hi outhwaite. What part of the east end do you live? I was born and lived in Bow for many years.

[Outhwaite in reply to Ray47]

Hi, I live on the boarder of East Ham and Upton Park at the back entrance of the old West Ham Football Grounds which are being pulled down at the moment, creating a load of dust and noise. Then they are building "affordable housing" with a large Gum and underground parking. They should be building Council houses, as this is now a run down area with a lot of homeless people, who will not be able to afford to buy these houses. At the moment we are are having to keep our windows shut because of the dust which is bad for our lungs and the noise starts really early in the morning. They have also pulled down Upton Park Bus Garage as well for more houses, so it's noise everywhere! Not nice at all.

Hope you are keeping well, regards, Val.

[Ray47 in reply to Outhwaite]

Hi val. It all sounds a lot different to I knew it. I had an aunt who lived opposite west ham stadium. She was blind and her name was nell.Sometimes we would earn a bit of pocket money by letting people park their cycles in her front garden. I think Bobby Moore had a sports shop in the road. I know that he was a friend of Aunt nell. My Mum was born and bred in Mafeking Ave in East Ham and went to school with Vera Lynn.

[Outhwaite in reply to Ray47]

Hi Ray

It is very different now, and not for the best.

My sister in Law also used to let people park their bikes in her front garden. Her name was Shirley (married to Ken, my husband's brother) to earn a bit of money.

When I was about 17 years old, I used to meet my friend in a cafe in Plaistow and one day, two boys gave us a lift to the Station to go to work and the blond one asked me for a date and we met outside a pub called The Spotted Dog. I wasn't interested in football at all this boy named Bobby asked me if I knew who he was and I said I didn't. He then told me he was a footballer for West Ham and showed me his driving license. Yes, it was Bobby Moore! We didn't have much in common. so only went out twice and that was that! His shop was in the Grounds and then moved to Barking Road. After he left football, he had a chain of shops in the City selling baked potatoes with different toppings, but I don't think it really took off, as they disappeared quite quickly. I used to go in them at different places as I worked all over the City as an Audio Typist.

I knew someone who lived in Mafeking Avenue and went to school with Vera Lynn, but for the life of me, I can't remember her name. It's a small world!

Regards. Val.

[Ray47 in reply to Outhwaite]

It's a small world isn't it. My mums name from mafeking Ave was Florence Nightingale until she married.She also had a sister Vera and two brothers Fred and Ernest. Is the boleyn pub still there. We had many a knees up there.

[Outhwaite in reply to Ray47]

Even though it was a Tudor Listed Building, it was pulled down years ago when the Fire Brigade said it was unsafe. A campaign was formed to try and save it, but they were unsuccessful. I had some great times in there with my friends and the food was really good. So many pubs have now been pulled down around here.

[Ray47 in reply to Outhwaite]

That's a shame. I don't suppose I would recognise the area now. I think I left London at the right time. I was born in 1947 and I am sure that the smog that covered London in those days caused a lot of breathing problems.

[Outhwaite in reply to Ray47]

I was born in 1943 and you are right about the smog. I had very bad asthma from the age of 18 months. There was no medical treatment available and no NHS and I was sent away to various boarding schools for sick children from the age of 4 to 12.5 yrs old. The only one which was any good was in Broadstairs in Kent where I spent over 4 year. I was seriously underweight and at age 8 I only weighted 2 stone. I get top rate DLA plus low rate care allowance and now aged 74 I have ARMD , but won't put in for a higher care allowance, as it would mean going over to PIP and I have heard such bad things about it. Someone I know who had a stroke in his late 50's would be a cabbage now if he hadn't had private insurance, which is now gone and PIP stopped his benefits just because he offered the PIP people a cup of tea! Of course, it was overturned eventually, but it's not a risk I want to take.I have heard plenty of similar stories.

Hope today is a good day for you. ..Regards, Val.

[Ray47 in reply to Outhwaite]

Hi Val.I am on high rate of disability and mobility allowance. I don't think pip applies to people born before 1948. Having high rate mobility allows me to have a car which is fitted with an electric hoist so that I can get my powerchair on and off on my own. Why don't you contact citizens advice and ask them. You could be missing out. Got my eldest son and grandchildren coming today so looking forward to seeing them. Best of luck Ray

[Outhwaite in reply to Ray47]

Hi Ray,Thanks for that information. I might give it a try, but getting an appointment with CAB is very difficult in this crowded part of London. Am trying to find out from DWP.

Hope you are keeping well. It's very warm in London at the moment and I am visiting my youngest son from Thursday to next Tuesday, so hoping for some nice sea breezes.

Hope you had a good weekend with your grandchildren. Regards, Val.

[Ray47 in reply to Outhwaite]

Hi Val. If you can't get any help with c.a.b. try age uk. I hear they are very helpful. Have a lovely time at the your sons.

[Outhwaite in reply to Ray47]

Thanks Ray, I'll give them a try. So looking forward to going to Frinton to see my son and getting away from London and getting some fresh sea air Wish I could move there, but who on earth would want to swap with someone in a tower block after that horrendous If a person buys a flat here they have to pay thousands of £'s for maintenance every year.

[Ray47 in reply to Outhwaite]

Hi Val.It would be lovely to live near the sea. Do you own your flat or is it rented.Maybe your son help you make a move. There are still lots of people who want to move to London what ever the cost. Enjoy your stay and have a bowl of jellied eels for me. Ray

[Dedalus]

Hello and welcome Outhwaite

[Outhwaite in reply to Dedalus]

Thank you. Hope you are well today...regards, Val.

[Caspiana]

Hello Outhwaite . Welcome to the forum. So lovely to have you. xx 🍁

[Outhwaite in reply to Caspiana]

Thank you. Hope you are feeling well today...Regards, Val.