Born in 1956 when we used to buy 5 park drive to smoke on the school Bus , we thought we were cool, those were the days if only i could turn the clock back, but i cant . I now sleep with a ventilator 15 Hours a day on oxygen i dont go outside anymore, i can still manage to cook a meal if i move very slow ,i dread having a shower as most of you know it really takes it out of You. I only wash my hair with water ,Shampoo takes too much energy to wash out as för cleaning the house i have a Robot vacuum cleaner (the best thing i ever bought in my life) as bending down to clean under the bed for me is impossible. After having said all that life is precious and i treasure every day ,ok my quality of life is not so good. But i can still See i can walk around my living room i can look out the Window and see the changes of the seasons , i have lived worked had holidays and i am still alive . As my Mother always told me there is always sombody worse than yourself and how right she was . So no matter what you have for an illness be thankfull that you are alive, never think of dying think of getting on with living and enjoying your food , and doing things you enjoy even if it is listening to the Radio. And never ever give in. That is all i wanted to say .
Frankie (copd stage 4 ): Born in 195... - Lung Conditions C...
Frankie (copd stage 4 )
Welcome to you Guitarman, good to meet you. I’m carer for my husband Pete, he has COPD and used to smoke too unfortunately. It’s good to try and enjoy each day as much as possible.
Take care xx
Nice to meet you as well , just Had salmond potatoes peas and carrots, and not forgetting tartar Sauce . Life is good ,have a nice day Frankie xx
Sounds good. Enjoy your day. Carole x
Welcome to the form, Guitarman. Your attitude sounds very positive.
We’ll said.
Hi Guitarman
Very nice to meet you😊
I’m awaiting a confirmed diagnosis of another health problem to add to my ever growing list and so was feeling a bit sorry for myself. Your wise words are what I needed to hear, thank you.
I am very fortunate to have good food to eat, I can afford to put the heating on when necessary and have kind and supportive friends. I’m also incredibly blessed to still have my Mother with me. One thing though, how is it that Mothers are always right? 😀
All the best to you, TC
There is not any other women in the world that will Match your Mother, yes you are blessed to have her with you .God bless you both , look forward to the day when we will all be together with our Lord Jesus Christ in Heaven there are no health problems there.
Welcome and you said it well! Couldn't agree more. When I feel beat I tell myself I can see, hear, taste and talk. I can also listen to others worse off than me.
Thank you for such great advice, Guitarmal230
Morning. So good to hear your story which could mirror mine.Female, born 1953. In younger days used to buy 1 ciggie and smoke it during break times at school!
From there the story gets worse, smoked as a nurse 😑 for all my 40 years of service in the NHS. It was my stress buster.
How stupid 🙄 can you be.
Now stage 3 and wish I knew then what I know now.
As you say, every day is precious, look after my 96 Yr old father, so that keeps me going.
Thanks for your post and stay well.
Best wishes .Dee.xx
Hi and welcome Guitarman. I was born in 1953. It was 'cool' to smoke in my secondary school years. If only it hadn't been!
Thank you for the positive message, you are so right we have to focus on what we can do/have got, not what we can't do/haven't got. 😊. I was born in 1952 and my friends mum used to give us cigarettes when we were about 12/13! Luckily for me I gave up smoking in my late teens as I never really enjoyed it but did it to 'fit in'. Having said that I've got bronchiectasis, recurring aspergillosis and asthma so you can't win! 😅. Take care xxx
I read your message, Guitarman. It made me feel a little better knowing that I am not alone. I am in a similar position to yourself (on oxygen 15 hours a day) but I do go out occasionally. Thank you for your inspiration. xx
Hi Guitarman. Welcome too the group. I must say that your introduction was excellent and rang true with me. At school in the 60s, we always had a ciggie near the school yard during breaks. It was cool back then with the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Stones, and many others being photoed with a ciggie. I quit twice and had 4 angioplasties on both legs. I am very slow and prone to infections and it is suggested that I start oxygen. You give a positive message and its just what I needed this morning. Best wishes JJ x PS I play guitar too.
Hi Frankie and welcome to the site. If only we could turn back the clock we certainly wouldnt be suffering the after effects of smoking. I used to pinch one of my Mum's cigarettes, they were Woodbines and I did that for a dare when I was 9 and finally gave up 13 years ago, I am now 70 . I have bronchiectasis and am very lucky to not suffer too much. I have rheumatoid arthritis and the drugs I take stop my immune system working so have to be careful not to pick up any bugs when out as this always goes straight to my chest. Its great you have such a positive attitude, thats what keeps us going. Where abouts are you in Germany? I spent a few years there when married to a soldier x
I am in Flensburg ,about 2km for. The Danish border i have living here for years , before that i was in Frankfurt am i think i was about 23 years old then,my how time flies seems like yesterday. I was going to have a shower but i dont feel like going in the shower ,i have to build myself before i go in the shower it takes too much energy, so i Will wait till tomorrow.
Wow thats really north . Do you have very bad winters up there? I imagine it can get very cold. German houses I found to be very well built and never felt the cold while i lived there, well inside anyway lol and they all had roller shutters which helped to keep the cold out as well. Maybe have a shower early tomorrow, I always seem to have more energy first thing.
Hi Guitarman230, the other day I was discussing packs of 5 Park Drive and a shop near work that allowed them on tick till pay day and I smiled when I read your post . I pay tribute to the telephone when ill and housebound as can always have a chat on the phone,short maybe. I can also go on sites like this and Zoom so I do not feel so isolated., I miss going out but have lots of memories of a good life in my photo box and memory. take each day as it comes .
Do you remember when a fish supper was 1/3 And 10 Shilling note was a Lot of money . I remember being in Scotland on my school holidays Picking potatoes and the farmer would say the first 2 days is the worst then you wont have a sore back, but he was right i dont think the young ones would do that anymore .I remember when i was young we used to make dens in the woods in the summertime ,and go for long walks and not come home untill 8pm , and how the tar would melt on the street those were the days we never had much but we were happy .children nowadays dont have any childhood, they dont speak to each other ,there head is Stuck in a Phone most of the time ,i really think Technology is moving too quick. When they buy a new telephone 5 months later it is out of Date so they have to buy another one. Where will it all end believe me we were born at the right time i would not want to be young nowadays. Maybe i am just getting old but the food tasted a Lot better then. And what ever happened to tea chests, you never See them anymore and what happened to milk bottles when the cream used to Settle on the Top. And when you went to shops everything was wrapped up in brown Paper. Those were the days , after Supermarkets came it was all over. It killed all the small shops ,and now the internet has Killed off the rest. Then again i am just as bad i order all my food online it is delivered to me .only last week i had a rash in my Leg no need to go to the doctors i just sent a picture of it to him within 2 Hours the cream was delivered to me ,so if i am honest the internet is really good for People like us . Ok i am going to eat now BFN Frankie
We still have milkmen who deliver bottles in our area, but we also have people who steal them from the steps in the early hours. Internet has its good points as you say but what do you do when you want to pay a bill and the computer says no . I recall having to take a picture of my injury on my boob for the doctor to show his colleagues ,on line I guess. Shame about brown paper as it has other uses and can be recycled not the same with plastic is it. ? In the old days you could ring if a mistake cropped up but now even the complaints manager can only go on what the computer screen says. You are right food was better tasting , guess the methods have changed for growing and for cooking. Then everything is ladened with aditives to make it last longer. Enjoy your day I have a shopping delivery today from Sainsburys on line.
Welcome to the forum.gd that U r able to be so positive x
reminded me of the time I used to pinch my fathers cigarettes and smoke them in the outside toilet which had great gaps round the door . Then I progressed to those mint filter things , then to fancy gold packets of B and H .
I used to Love benson and hedges .I was a lorry driver 60 a day. What an Idiot i was ,but Clark Gabel used to smoke and John wayne.
Hi Guitarman. I agree with all you say and count my blessings. My parents were told I probably wouldn’t reach my 7th birthday. At 7 they said maybe I will get to early teens. I’m now 73 years old and cherish every day. I like your positive attitude. Keep on keeping on. Best wishes, Diane 😊
Hi there, born year before you did exactly the same. Thought it cool and grown up!! Like you I rarely go out, have to plan everything I do, but still enjoy life. Take care xx
hi and welcome guitar man Lovely thoughts. You sound a positive person. Take care x
hi Frankie,
You sound very much like me. Born in 1948, there were no anti smoking campaigns when I was a teenager and yes I’m now paying the price, even though I gave up when I was 40. Like you a shower is a HUGE deal, I have to psyche myself up for it.
I am on oxygen 24 hours a day including a ventilator at night to get rid of the carbon dioxide. I came out after a week in hospital last night due to infection.
Good luck to you in the meantime. x
bloomin cigarettes if only we knew! Smoking I was pretty good at it but back then only heard of emphysema in relation to coal miners? It’s strange how some lifelong smokers never get it? And some who smoked on and off and for a shorter period get it bad.?
I’ve noticed that once you say you did smoke there is very little sympathy. Did we ask for it? Feel like a leper sometimes. Just hope stopping in time has saved me from having to go down the oxygen route as I wouldn’t be able to cope with that I think.
Dont worry you will cope with it ,i used to say that. Now i would not feel normal if i was not tripping over the oxygen tube every day ,it is really amazing how we addapt to different situations .you are right people tend to give a label when you have smoked, especially Doctors,But i dont think it is only smoking that causes this ,there is a lot of people who have never smoked and they also have copd ,i used to think it was coal miners and foundry workers who got copd as well , but it can be anybody and everybody has different symptoms, and different ways of dealing with it .My dad used to always sing this Song (keep right on to the end of the road) i now understand why he was singing it now. I am singing the same song we all are .all the best Frankie.
red tide and copd
Positive all the way.
COPD stage 4 and what it means... 
Advice for relatives of someone with stage 4 COPD
