New to group

[wiserlady]

Hi I am a 62 year old woman who is new to this group. It seems I have COPD although I have never smoked or been near dangerous things that you can breath in. With me it is curvature of the spine which causes it.

[joyful4u]

Hi. Welcome to the group. Wow! I never heard of that being a cause of COPD. Was that confirmed by someone else? I'm tempted to google it just out of curiosity! Lol!!! Well, regardless, you'll still be able to accesss a lot of info here, along with much support & encouragement. It's cool how you can look back on past posts & search questions you may have & get free advice. I have asthma & mild COPD since Dec 2016. I've learned to accept it & go forward, concentrating on what would be advantageous for my health. Walking daily, exercising regularly & drinking a lot of water helps me. I leave the rest in God's hands. I hope you have a good pulmonary doctor who can monitor you & treat you as needed. Pls keep us posted.

[wiserlady in reply to joyful4u]

Hi, its called restrictive lung disease. SAME symptoms. Done loads of research. Am looking to do singing, tai chi, exercise etc to help. Sounds like you are working along the same lines. I drink a lot of tea but dont suppose that counts as water. Ive been to see various consultants and all they ever do is take a spiro and throw asthma pumps at me, given up with that now, waste of time and money.

[joyful4u in reply to wiserlady]

Good for you. All we can do is the next thing. Tai Chi would be good for balance. I do some aqua aerobics, chair exercises & low impact aerobics in 5 days of the week. And singing? I enjoy that so much & do it often. That's got to help our lungs. I would add water to your daily routine. Keep up the good work.

[wiserlady in reply to joyful4u]

lol. i love singing just sound like a mad cat.

[megshafer]

Very many people being diagnosed with lung diseases, have never smoked nor second hand smoke. You are the as they say the norm now. The stigma of it being just smoking must and should die down....then there will be advanced medications and dare I say, cures!!!

Take care, stay well!! And welcome!!🌻🌻🍁🍁

[wiserlady in reply to megshafer]

I agree with you but it gets wearing when they keep asking you this and intimating you are lying when you say something different.

[wiserlady]

Yes I did know that. And I do not agree it means nothing. I am sick and tired of being asked about smoking and people insinuating I am not being honest when I say I have never smoked. They imply that it is my fault I am ill, because I was stupid enough to smoke. It is not my fault I am ill.

[morehope in reply to wiserlady]

The fact that you never smoked means nothing. Did you know that dogs and horses get emphysema? They don't smoke either.

[wiserlady in reply to morehope]

It means a lot to me. I know someone who smoked a lot and is now very ill because of it. That was his choice. I know others who have been heavy drinkers, never exercised or eaten junk food all the time, all choices which led to ill health. It is no good getting angry with me about it, you make your choices and live with them. I will not read and reply to further comments.

[wiserlady]

I agree with you up to a point. But smoking does damage lungs so it is daft to. Years ago they did not know that. If you kept sticking a needle in your eye you would not expect someone to be able to repair a mushed up eye and say that the fact you caused the problem with needles is irrelevant. Your first priority, if you are sensible, surely is to eat sensibly and exercise and not drink too much or smoke, to help yourself, before you expect others to be able to or want to help you too.

[wiserlady]

I understood what you said. But you still have a duty of care to yourself. Not to present the medical profession with a more difficult or impossible task.

[wiserlady]

Not sure where you got that idea from. I said my opinion is that we have a duty of care towards ourselves. And that we cannot expect doctors or surgeons to repair every mistake and choice we have made. I never said anything about accusing or insinuating. Nobody here knows me well enough to insinuate or even guess anything about my medical history so they would be stupid to try to. I have more important things to care about on a day to day basis than what someone I will never speak to or meet thinks, like running a successful business where I help a lot of clients and employ a lot of staff. That is just one reason I try to take responsibility for my own well being, because without my health I am not only unwell myself but let a lot of other people down.