I was told I had COPD two years ago s... - Lung Conditions C...
I was told I had COPD two years ago should i have seen a consultant?
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I didn't see a consultant for about 5 years, just got locked after by the nurse at my local doctors surgery, it was not until I ended up in hospital and was then referred to their chest clinic that things started happening for me as it turned out that the CT scan showed I had a giant bullae on my right lung and needed an operation which I am still recovering from but that is bit of a rare case. I would ask the do for a referral to the local hospital chest clinic just to be sure as they have much better kit than the surgery to hand.
Hi, I have just recently been to a meeting/forum with the respiratory team and when I questioned why my husband had no consultant, it was explained that - There are three levels of care - the first is the Doctor and if you are managing well and coping the likelihood is that you will stay under his care, if you start to have exacerabations then there is a specialist respiratory team in our area that you can be referred to who can refer you to pulmonary rehab, visit at home, check your meds. etc. and the third level which involves the consultant. Where this system fell down for us - the doctor did not refer us to the respiratory team when my husband was ill - I had to to ask the practise nurse to do this for us.
They visited at home, referred him for pulmonary rehab but he still does not have a consultant. There is a massive discrepancy in the level of care you can receive from your Doctor, my husband was told he was too well to be referred to PR - although it is based on a walking test and the respiratory team referred him immediately.
My advise would be - if you are well, enjoy it! If you are having exacerbations ask your doctor if there is a team in your area. Also my husband joined the local breath easy group which has been helpful and they can give pretty good advise.
Hope some of this information has been helpful. Good luck! Take good care and look after yourself. TAD xx
I would have thought you should have seen a consultant. But I suppose it depends on the severity of your condition and your symptoms. All down to keeping costs down I suppose.
Perce, I have had bullae for many years. My left lung totally collapsed, about 17 years ago meaning 3 weeks in hospital, was moved to another hospital for surgery then lung started to some up gradually and they didn't operate in case I needed the " the big one" eventually. However I am still here and still got little bullae amongst the rest of my probs, i.e Sarcoid, fibrosis, bronchiectasis, invasive aspergillus. Oh the joys!
My bullae was about the size of a can of coke and they where worried that it might burst which would instantly collapse the lung. I have my follow up meeting with the surgeon their Tuesday so will see how she thinks it all went and what she want s to do about the other lung which only has small bullaes.
Thank you everyone for your replies,I think you might be able to tell im new to this (what the hell are bullae) the nurse tells me yes I will get tired and Im lucky I dont bring up phlegm even if I want to,(does it have to be so hard bringing up phlegm)can anyone tell me when I try to walk faster i get tightening in the chest and in the throut and of course shortness of breath thanks again xxx
You don,t say whether you are a smoker,ex smoker,or trying to pack it in.I,m sure that if you give us more info Mid8 we would all be able to help/advise you more.If you are reading up on lung diseases you can frighten yourself.If you panic &worry about having C.O.P.D.this will certainly make your chest ,throat,tighten up.I know its very difficult but try & focus your mind on other things.Take care xx
I was only diagnosed in April this year Mid8 so am not too experienced with the ins & outs of this disease.I know my chest feels tight most of the time,so i would suggest is normal to feel this way.Lets hope someone else can answer your question for our mutual benefit xx
Hi,thanks for your reply its good to talk to people with the same disease, it can get a bit frightening at times my husband has his own illnesses so i dont want to burden him so much im his carer he is mostly in a wheelchair now and retired so a bit hard on me when i push him around so we mostly go where there are no inclines,anyway enough of me feeling sorry for my self once again thank you i hope your well xxx
Hiya.,
Sorry to learn that your hubby is also not too well,it must be very difficult for you both.I hope you have family/friends that help you,s I think you do very well being able to push your man around.take care Mid8 & keep blogging xx
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Hi everyone I have had asthma for many years and was diagnosed with mild COPD about 2 years ago and my question is
3 weeks ago I was diagnosed with emphysema copd
I have copd 
I have COPD
i have emphersema and was told that taking my oxygen was a killer
