3 of 3

Write now Article Tools

I am speaking as a sufferer.

I was diagnosed with the disease Five years ago.

Came like a shot out of the blue.

I thought I was healthy I had been running my own business with the help of my wife.
We enjoyed dancing and had taken and passed gold medal standard tests in Ballroom and Latin American dancing.
In other words I felt I was reasonably fit and I thought I was healthy.

The way I found out I was a sufferer of these diseases was to me just unbelievable. To be honest prior to this incident I never used to see a doctor. I didn't take time off work and was very rarely ill.

It happened in the silliest of ways, I just happened to be gardening. I had been digging up what I thought was a shrub that become overgrown, it needed to be moved.
Little did I know it happened to be a blackthorn and just before it could be removed I managed to get a splinter in my hand.

Blackthorn can be very poisonous in severe cases it can cause lockjaw.
I was lucky in my case it only caused me to get a serious infection traveling all the way up my arms and into my chest. My arm swelled up like a balloon and I spent three days in hospital. Because of where the splinter had entered my hand there was a danger of causing damage and risking losing the movement in my hand so the splinter was never taken out.

From that moment in time my health went downhill, I was suddenly prone to chest infections lost the ability to lift, carry or perform many tasks. Anything involving exertion and I would collapse out of breath. It's not nice when you get the feeling of not having control of bodily functions (Bladder etc))

It took a while to come to terms with it but when you realize being short of breath is not life threatening in fact stretching and strengthening the lungs can be beneficial.

It' is how you deal with the effects of C.O.P.D. and Emphysema that will enable you to have a reasonable quality of life.

Learning to plan your days and making sure you only tackle tasks you can complete on your good days becomes normal.

Try to make yourself do some exercise each day. It is these kind of things you can do when you feel able that will help muscles stop wasting away.

If nothing else keep your mind active as long as you can, Crosswords scrabble anything that makes you think, my way is writing.

I now have time to write poetry, short stories hopefully in the future I feel I would like to write books. It's these kind of things that give reason and value to your life.

What I am talking about is self esteem. I always feel if you have something to get up for in the morning, then you can always look forward to the day ahead with energy.

It's no good dwelling on the past, you can only look forward to being the best that you can be.

Learn more about this author, Joe Lyons.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about Emphysema: Symptoms?
We want to hear your view. Write now!