Life is for living (if possible) as we don't ... - COPD Friends

COPD Friends

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Life is for living (if possible) as we don't know how long we're here for.

Billcul profile image
23 Replies

I was diagnosed COPD exactly twenty years ago. Pretty reasonable, as I was diagnosed with inoperable non small cell lunch cancer, exactly twenty years ago! My COPD is quite minor just now, but I don't know how long it will remain at this stage. In the mean time, I'll carry on being an Advocate and Reader, for the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation. My best wishes to all.

Bill Culbard

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Billcul profile image
Billcul
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23 Replies
Bingo88 profile image
Bingo88

Hello Bill. A lovely photo. So pleased to hear your C.O.P.D, is still only minor after 20 yrs. You are looking well and enjoying life which is what its about. Hope you have many more years Brian

katieoxo60 profile image
katieoxo60

Thank you Bill, I was diagnosed with lung cancer first off but turned out to be COPD many tests later. Like yourself my illness is mild and well managed now. I also support varied charities but think the one you support is special as Roy Castle was a non smoker but still died of lung cancer caused by passive smoking.Passive smoking & hereditary genes in COPD are often ignored too. Passive smoking is now becoming a thing of the past as most public places are smoke free. Have a good day.

Billcul profile image
Billcul in reply to katieoxo60

Hi Katie. I have lost half the past year or so, what with Lockdown etc. I haven't visited this site for a long while, and it's good to be back and see how folk are doing. I continue to be fortunate with my health, just kind of wheezy, but enjoying a new hip! Hope you are well. Bill

katieoxo60 profile image
katieoxo60 in reply to Billcul

Hi there, I'm just getting used to a new knee too. It takes time they say for hip or knee. Glad to hear you are keeping well to spite COPD. Mine as got more tiring since lockdown and a bit more coughing but I put it down to lack of normal exercise. But that should improve a bit yet as my knee gets better fingers crossed. Have a nice day.

Billcul profile image
Billcul in reply to katieoxo60

I understand the knee op is much more complex than the hip. It was bad enough. Apparently, when I was in the middle of the op, I was going loopy, giving the surgeon a hard time. They also managed to find a tiny clot on my 'bad' lung', so had to get a ct scan. Haven't heard the result, so I'll just ignore it.

katieoxo60 profile image
katieoxo60 in reply to Billcul

Good morning again, hope the clot on your lung has dissolved by now as the drugs they give for post hip & knee recovery are supposed to reduce clot risk. With this coronavirus thing the best way to see things is live each day as it comes no one knows what tomorrow holds. You look fairly well in the photo and sound optimistic so best wishes to you till we speak again .

Hi Well done 👍. Love your positive attitude as I believe that’s what keeps us going. Take care of yourself and enjoy 😉 everyday. Lynn

Billcul profile image
Billcul in reply to

Thanks Lynn. Know it's been a while, but hope you are good too. Bill

joyful4u profile image
joyful4u

Hi Bill, thanks for sharing this good report. Many hear the word copd & think death is on their doorstep. What an encouragement to hear otherwise. Kudos to you! You're so right...life is for the living! :) God bless you, Terri

Billcul profile image
Billcul in reply to joyful4u

Hi there. I'm continuing to stay well thanks, and hope you are still being Joyful too. I'm getting a bit slower, but still enjoying decent health. Best wishes, Bill

R2B_John profile image
R2B_JohnModerator

Great attitude! So glad you decided to live fully and not be 'woe is me'.

The day 'You only live once'....... Well, truth be known, 'You only Die once....You Live Every Day!'

Billcul profile image
Billcul in reply to R2B_John

I have probably misled you all, due to my bad writing. I got the cancer twenty years ago, but COPD one year ago. I currently have 'TRELEGY ELLIPT inhalation powder 'puffer' I take once a day.

Nice picture, it's got me looking forward to warmer weather. I am glad your COPD is still mild. I was diagnosed with emphysema and squamous cell lung cancer almost 7 years ago. I have lost both upper lobes to lung cancer, but I figure that when they took the cancer, they also took some of the emphysema (I try to be a "silver lining"type of gal).

At the beginning of my cancer journey, my oncologist told me that a good attitude and a sense of humor are very good things to have.

Billcul profile image
Billcul in reply to Feelingblessed2013

I'll drink to that!! Although like anyone else diagnosed with cancer, I was devastated and terrified. I had just been married a couple of years. We kept positive and doing the same things we had been doing before - just a wee bit slower. Enjoyed the same things and didn't think negative, till it was time for chemo again.

jackdup profile image
jackdup

It is certainly wonderful to hear you are still doing well 20 years after surviving lung cancer.

Billcul profile image
Billcul in reply to jackdup

Thank you!

jackdup profile image
jackdup in reply to Billcul

I appreciate you posting as that gives others hope that may be newly diagnosed.

It didn't hit me as hard as it does most. I think because I had already had skin cancer twice. But I do remember telling the thoracic surgeon that I wanted it out, gone. I now do everything a bit slower than I used to. Do my best to keep negative thoughts at bay. I try to not think about it until scan time.

A very wise person once said; if you spend your life worrying about all the what is, you miss out on life, living in the here and now. Life is not guaranteed, I could step off the curb tomorrow and get hit by a bus. So I try to enjoy life while I am alive.

Billcul profile image
Billcul in reply to Feelingblessed2013

Quite right!

Ray001 profile image
Ray001

Hang in there Bill. You are right on!

Spotthejock profile image
Spotthejock

Hi Bill,Long time no see or hear from,It's Eric Byrne here,good to see you up and about.Yes we have shared and enjoyed times together as advocates for the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation.I have home since we last met,I now live in Lanark with my partner Liz.

Two years ago this month I was dxd with COPD,think I have had it for some time now prior,however my DX is mild and I am coping well,all be it a little breathless on exertion.

I am enjoying life despite Covid-19 and the lockdown.I bought a new static home at Bennane Shore Holiday Park in Lendalfoot Girvan, beautiful site,with all the benefits of a swimming pool,gym,sauna,steam room ,jaccuzi it also has a bistro and bar to enjoy after your exercise.Hopefully I can return to the site soon.

I am to be a grandfather again this August,My daughter Jennifer is having a scan this afternoon and will let me know how it went later.

Hope we can meet up again,tell your wife I was asking for her.

Best Wishes,

Eric.

Billcul profile image
Billcul in reply to Spotthejock

Hi Eric

Glad to hear you're still breathing! We are doing well here in Dunblane, just getting a wee bit older every day or so. The Lockdown is a real bummer, but if it keeps us all safe, so be it.

Glad to hear you're going to have an extra Christmas gift to but, and all the best to Jennifer! My own little grandson started his first job last week, as an Occupational Therapist at the QE in Glasgow. Did well at Uni, so e's been wanting to be an OT since a teenager, watching injured service men and women coming home from war zones crippled, and desperate to help them .

Gwen and I are well and, as you say, hopefully we can meet up sooner rather than later. Bill

Spotthejock profile image
Spotthejock in reply to Billcul

I have completely lost touch with all at Roy Castle,probably my own fault since I didnt pass my new Lanark address onto them.Are you still involved with them?Seems your little grandson is no longer so little now.Wish him all the very best in his new career.Hope to meet up again soon.

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