after reading lots of horror stories about doctors and nurses waiting times etc, i just wanted to know if i am lucky in where i live.
i live near fareham in hampshire and since being diagnosed with copd i have been seen by my nurse once a month for test and check ups etc and should i have cough or bring up anything off colour (you know what i mean yuk!) My surgery will arrange for a doctor to see me within an hour of phoning them.
I was only diagnosed in june 2013 but was told my problems started ten years ago! And i thought all those years struggling to breathe at work was because i was unfit?
I even managed to do give up smoking after thirty odd years when my very down to earth nurse said "do you really want to bloody die soon!"
I love her lol.
her and the wife have many chats about me as she says "men lie about how bad they feel until its too late".
Keep up the posts everyone i dont post much but read everyone elses and it all helps.
best wishes
Bob
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bobbyr
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Well as far as I am concerned , you are VERY lucky indeed...I have had bronchiectasis since a child and have NEVER been referred by my doctor to a surgery respiratory nurse, he just gave me antibiotics every time I got a chest infection and that was that.
Since being admitted to hospital, I am now under a clinc and do have 6 monthly check up, I am by now severe stage 3 COPD. so after decades of no special help, I am OK
You are very lucky your doctor has referred you to the nurse ( in my opionion)
Sohara, I do feel you need more support than you are getting. How difficult is it to have another GP? Or move to another practice. Can you voice your views to the practice manager. I dont know your circumstances, but your health and confidence in your GP is important. And of course you have the BLF nurse to advise. Click on "about us" at top of page.
I have a wonderful practice but will have to leave it to move. New one in Hants looks ok but you never know. All the best.
You are kind to worry about me Pergola and I do appreciate your concern. Its really a case of 'if ONLY I had known for all those years, what I know now' :) But now I am under the clinic I have had a scan , breathing tests etc etc and I get goodish care
The main thing I wish oh wish I had known all these decades was how to clear my lungs...the only way I knew was 'clapping the back' which they had done on me when I was 15 after my lobectomies. of course I never really had any one to do that and so for years I had antibiotics but could not get the gunk up by coughing alone
I learned the 'huff/cough' about 3/4 yrs ago, and just that ONE thing would have been a major help to me if I had heard of it years earlier
Hi sohara, your story chimes with mine in many ways although i have been under a variety of consultants over the years. I suspect, like me you just took the abs and carried on with a busy life .My bronchiectasis is now severe and I have just started on LTOT. I suspect that I now have COPD but have yet to see my consultant for test results.
Like you i just 'got on with it' had antibiotics, used drainage and clapping ineffectively on my own and saw physiotherapists infrequently. Drs didn't refer to physios as much then as they do now.I was once asked to see the respiratory nurse at my practice but she didn't know anything about bronch and was only interested in checking if I was using my puffers properly - I don't have asthma but my consultant thinks they may help with mucus clearance.
Over the years I have seen many different physios with various ideas regarding clearance. The huff/cough method was first suggested to me only a few years ago and I found that I had already been doing it instinctively for years! My favourite method at the moment is to use an acapella and huff/cough combined.
I believe my downfall came when I was colonised with pseudamonas and it wasn't picked up and dealt with soon enough. Now there is a protocal for rescue meds and putting a sample in when infection is suspected. If this had been in place then I may not have gone down so fast.
If you are told that you have pseudamonas ask for it to be treated aggressively - take IV in hospital if it's suggested. I know how much we try to keep out of hospital but I made that mistake when my GP suggested I might benefit from IV. I glibley said oh no not hospital and she took my word. I should have gone in - we don't always know whats best.
Hi Happy feet. I was given antibiotics. Then the assistant consultant told me that there were not Smartiesand refused to give me for more than 2 weeks. Yet, i carried on coughing. so much so that the consultant told me he didn't know what was happening to me. he sent me to the Brompton Hospital where I was diagnosed with bronchiectasis.
I moved from my area to Kent. There my GP, told me too that if I abused ABs, the bugs would get resistant and I would get a new nasty bug. Well it wasn't up to me to refuse AB, as I fell ill! One day, indeed, I caught the nasty pseudomonas. I could hear in my head the doctor saying, I told you so. Pseudomonas has been persistent and got Cyproxin and went to hospital for IV. I got repeated Pseudomonas infections until I caught an even better nasty in 2010 Mycobacterium Avium Intracellulare. This is a bug that initiates TB, Leprosy and a few others of that sort ! M.A.I. for short. Strangely enough, I am on Rifampicin and Clarythromycin to eradicate this. So far, pseudomonas has disappeared!
I feel good, but don't ask me what would happen if that bug would become resistant, then what?... Let's live and die peacefully. And enjoy the gym while I can!
Hello Bob what a very,very nice doctor ,practice you belong to there in sunny Hampshire,makes such a difference having confidence in your doctor.Well done you with stopping smoking bet you feel good for that I stopped september,dont people who smoke smell no disrespect but it brings it home to how I must have stunk when kissing my grandchildren etc etc poowee lol Janexx
Grand slam here. I never post. But read everyones post everyday. I feel I know you all. Was sorry to hear kingofthecocktails had died. I loved reading his posts. I have asthma. But not anything as bad as all you good people out there. Breathe easy everyone.
Hello Grandslam nice to meet you.Yes the sad news about Kotc was just awful he touched all of our lives i think he welcomed every single person that joined this forum bless him.I have asthma to along side emphysema i cant tell between the two now they seemed to have merged as time goes by.You saying Breathe easy reminds me i have just found out there is a breathe easy group just a couple of miles away I must poodle along on gertie and get involved.Takecare Grandslam keep well keep smiling. Janexx
Sound like you are pretty lucky, I usually wait about ten days to see my Doctor although they will fit you in with someone else if you are OK with that. Normally around a week to see the Respiratory Nurse but I did get an Emergency Prescription for Antibiotics before Xmas in case of infection.
It takes 2 weeks for an apointment with my doctors (any 1 of 3 ) unless you say it is an emergency and ring between 8 and 8.30am (no later) and even then they say all the apointments have gone ring again tommorow. No wonder all the walk in centres and hospital A & E's are packed in our area.
If I want to see a particular GP I have to wait 3-4 weeks. If I have an emergency and ring early they usually offer a phone appointment where a GP phones back to discuss problem. In my case it usually results in being given an appointment that afternoon. Working ok so far.
I am not sure of my facts here, but it FEELS like COPD was not even heard about too much until recent years, people just had 'chest problems' but what with the results of the smogs in London and the bad air generally in the country ( before the clean air acts) and the large growth in smoking, that healthy people ( by that I mean people who had no lung condition) began to join the masses of 'chest sufferers' until now COPD is one of the largest health concerns of many countries, and so doctors are beginning to take more interest and learn about the condition. They cleaned up the air years ago, and hopefully people are gradually giving up smoking, so the future may hold a better horizon for all those who do not have COPD because of bronch/asthma/ and other diseases . So I don't blame the doctors of yore toooooo much, they just had no idea how big the problem was
Thanks for all your replies, i was just trying to gauge the amount of difference in the way people are treated in different areas of the uk.
I have been doing a little bit of research for my own benefit and it seems that hampshire has more people with chest/lung problems than any other county even in young children!
I wonder why?
Only last year my youngest who is 3 was admitted for a chest infection and the same night 4 other chidren were put on the childrens ward with the same thing.
Are the government hiding something from us and just blaming smoking for everything?
The other childrens parents and families were non smokers.
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But now I am under the clinic I have had a scan , breathing tests etc etc and I get goodish care
Janexx
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