With emphysema, stage 4, how are others getting along?
929294
i have just posted my question on on hear titile (emphysema question? )\nps just noticed i forgot to say im stage 2\n\nbig hiiiiiiii to you !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
852931
dude above me... man, we used to be neighbors!  millwoods, NO WAY!  LMFAO.\n\nOkay no seriously... we moved, not cause of them but we did.  But our solution, is we BBQ'ed the shiat out of our meat on the deck till it was smoking and the smoke went in their place... VOILA!  Keeping the vent fan on on the stove helps too...\n\nWhoever said air cleaner or whatever that helps.. odor neutralizer!  \n\nIf all else fails.. do what we did, throw a fat Tbone on the barbie and smoke em out!!
683677
i hate to be the one to scare the hell out of you. but i had the same thing burning in my right lung, 8-9-2001 they took my right lung out . i had lung cancer. take my advice see a pulmonologists. my dr kept me on damn cough syrup for a year. and when i started to spitting up blood she says well donald i guess we need to get some chest xrays. then it was too late. see a pulmonologist man. do not go thru what i have been. see my 360 you will know what i mean. also good luck to you.
37357
I usually write vitals first, then you write about the pt beginnig head to toe, as you are taught in school.  for ex: 124/72-80-12 96% on o2 2litres.  Pt alert, oriented x3.  Lung sounds clear, diminshed bases- no cough or SOB, abdomen soft, non-distended, sluggish bowel sounds left upper quadrant- mom given 30cc 5pm, no results.  Bilateral 1+ pitting edema both lower extremities, +pedal pulses, -Homans signs ble.  Pt family member updated on pt. status.  \nOften in nursing notes arent as detailed but I try to think ' If someone were to investigate this case, and my notes in a court of law, would they hold up?" Its basically to 'cover your a#$, it takes practice
104434
Asthma narrows the airways making it difficult to take a deep breath and/or breathing out normally. One of the most difficult things for me, a non asthmatic, is to try to explain to someone who is asthmatic how to breath.  I am sorry if what I suggest makes no sense.   You need to work with a rhythm when you breath, especially when you are in crisis or coming out of a crisis....do not yet worry about deep breaths, just take it slow and easy...slow in and slow out.  Think of something you find comforting...like the QUIET ocean wave....in....and out....When you use your nebulizer....do NOT wory about breathing deep, this will happen more naturally as the medicine begins to open the bronchioles...forcing a deep breath may have the opposite effect.  When a person has an asthma crisis, the truth is the harder the work, the less effective the breaths...so...Take your nebs and your Advair and practice slow easy breathing...slow in and slow out. It is almost like meditating and focusing only on your breathing rhythm. If your breathing does not improve,or it gets worse at anytime.. you may need an IV dose of Solumedrol...a stronger steroid, or IV Epi.  Keep in contact with your physician and head to the ER if your physician is not available.  Also, this anwer is really not mine.  I have a friend whom I work with who has been an asthmatic since she was 4 years old (she is in her 30s now).  When I need to know what my asthmatic patient might be going through, I go to her and ask.  She is married and has a son just over a year old and it is important to her to do her best to manage her asthma for her sake and her son's.  She said, the first thing she has to do when a crisis begins is not to panic for her next breath...which is what she or her body/mind wants to do.  She also gets to the ER quickly if she finds she can't manage her oncoming attack.....Meditating and focusing on her breathing is one aspect of her own coping mechanisms.
931916
Depends, every copd patient is different, I think you have apretty good idea of what to expect I mean you are 7 years out, and minimal exertion wipes you out, and you are on inhalers and oxygen, you probably cant sleep lying down and are not able to travel on long trips without figuring out how long a cylinder of 02 will last... Its not what you can expect I think you know that, its what will you do and what will you be as a person with the time god has given you.......
635997
Smoking's a phase most of us all go through. If it isn't too late for you, try visiting a hospital cancer center. There will invariably be patients, emaciated, hairless cancer victims, with I.V.s attached, outside 'enjoying' their cigarettes. REALLY makes one think, doesn't it?
1111806
I have a 2 ideas for you.  First the mainstream/medical thought I have is that it could be allergies aggravated by smoking.  I myself just suffered with such a thing - chest cold, nasal, tough to get rid of.  My whole family had it, but I was first and last and it hung on until I gave up cigarettes - though I had been wanting to give them up for some time, this gave me the extra shove i needed to stop - I've been off now for 2 months (yay!)\n\nNow my personal philosophy is one of the mental and emotional causes of disease and discomfort (as described in Louise Hay's book "You can heal your Life") and according to her list of symptoms book, I would think that you are going through a tough time in your life right now.  These symptoms seem to say that you are not getting the attention and recognition you deserve and that you may kind of be at the mercy of others in an important area of your life.  The fact that the post nasal drip/runny now has been added recently shows that the problem could be escalating or you are just very tired of dealing with it.\n\nOften times when we are ill it is our bodies way of making us slow down and take time for ourselves.  Take the time - look at your life.  Try to identify the problems that are causing your physical symptoms.  Often times we can not change our circumstances (hard to quit a job when you need the money) but we can change our mind, our thoughts.  We can set a resolved to look at these things in a more positive light (i.e. my mother in law hates me, but it sure makes it easier to move out of state for both me and my husband because of it).  \n\nThere is good and bad in every situation and when we get stuck in the negative there is no way out and we get sick. If you email me I can talk to you more specifically about your situation, but you can do yourself the most good quickly and easily by quietly sitting and visualizing yourself feeling better - really see yourself happy and laughing, no trace of illness or stress.  If there is someone or something that is bothering you, imagine them or it just as you woud like it to be.  The more vivid the image in your mind, the better it will work.  Do it for 3-5 minutes at a time, 1-5 times a day, and you will feel better in 3-5 days.\n\nI sure hope this helps - this is what always helps me most.  I wish you peace and health!
920826
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a general term for a group of diseases that cause progressive damage to your lungs. These diseases include chronic bronchitis, asthma and emphysema. Of the more than 16 million Americans with COPD, nearly 3 million have symptomatic emphysema and millions more are in the early stages of the disease before signs and symptoms appear.\n\nUnlike asthma, which occurs when the muscles in your airways tighten, emphysema causes a loss of elasticity in the walls of the small air sacs in your lungs. Eventually, the walls stretch and break, creating larger, less efficient air sacs that aren't able to handle the normal exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide.\n\nWhen emphysema is advanced, you must work so hard to expel air from your lungs that breathing can consume up to 20 percent of your resting energy. Unfortunately, because emphysema develops gradually over many years, you may not experience symptoms such as shortness of breath until irreversible damage has already occurred. Treatments focus on relieving symptoms and avoiding complications.\n\nreduced capacity for physical activity, both of which are likely to become worse as the disease progresses. In time, you may have trouble breathing even when lying down, and it may be especially hard to breathe during and after respiratory infections, such as colds or the flu.\n\nOther signs and symptoms of emphysema include:\n\nChronic, mild cough. You may produce sputum or phlegm when you cough. \nLoss of appetite and weight loss. It's a vicious cycle. Emphysema can make eating more difficult, and the act of eating can rob you of your breath. The result is that you simply may not feel like eating much of the time. \nFatigue. You're likely to feel tired both because it's more difficult to breathe and because your body is getting less oxygenWhen you inhale, air travels to your lungs through two major airways called bronchi. Inside your lungs, the bronchi subdivide like the roots of a tree into a million smaller airways (bronchioles) that finally end in clusters of tiny air sacs (alveoli). You have about 300 million air sacs in each lung. Within the walls of the air sacs are tiny blood vessels (capillaries) where oxygen is added to your blood and carbon dioxide — a waste product of metabolism — is removed. The air sac walls also contain elastic fibers that help them expand and contract like small balloons when you breathe.\n\nWhat happens in emphysema\nIn emphysema, inflammation destroys these fragile walls of the air sacs, causing them to lose their elasticity. As a result, the bronchioles collapse, and air becomes trapped in the air sacs, which overstretches them and interferes with your ability to exhale (hyperinflation).\n\nIn time, this overstretching may cause several air sacs to rupture, forming one larger air space instead of many small ones. Because the larger, less-elastic sacs aren't able to force air completely out of your lungs when you exhale, you have to breathe harder to take in enough oxygen and to eliminate carbon dioxide.\n\nThe process works something like this: Normally, you exhale in two ways, actively and passively. When you exert yourself and need more oxygen, your chest muscles contract, forcing air out rapidly. On the other hand, when you sit quietly, your diaphragm contracts and your chest muscles expand to take air in, but your muscles don't actively contract to let the air out. Instead, the elastic tissue around your air sacs contracts, and your lungs passively shrink.\n\nBut if you have emphysema, many of these elastic fibers have been destroyed, and you must consciously force air out of your lungs. The forced exhalation compresses many of your small airways, making expelling air even more difficult.\n\nMost common cause is smoking\nCigarette smoke is by far the most common cause of emphysema. The damage begins when tobacco smoke temporarily paralyzes the microscopic hairs (cilia) that line you
1044575
I haven't managed it myself either, so I feel your frustration.   Cancer (particularly lung) is also in my family and so I know how daft I am being too!  \n\nI don't think you should give up too closely on the back of giving up another addiction as that might cause too much pressure and cause you to end up back on both.  Wait until you get to a point where you feel you really have the drinking thing calmly under control before taking a step towards stopping smoking.  If you are no longer drinking, you might find the smoking thing easier as a drink and a smoke often go together and the two habits exacerbate each other.\n\nGood luck - I am really impressed with what you are doing - good for you!
179091
I have heard of people living off of one lung, but your best bet would be to talk to the doctor at the hospital. He/She im sure would be more then glad to tell you everything you need to know... Hope he gets well soon!
1074743
My mom has emphysema.  She was doing pulmonary rehab which helped her tremendously.  Unfortunately, she hated it and quit going.
741944
What a pleasure to hear from you.HAPPY BIRTHDAY x 67. Does that qualify. Truth we are in to this with lung cancer in my husband of 38 yrs. Untreatable, they gave him 3-6 mos. That was well over a yr. ago. he's no worse off now then when they found it. One stubborned dude. Each date that passes is a plus for us. 2nd Xmas coming up. 2nd birthday in Feb. & he lived to see a new grandson that had not been on radar back then. We take one day at a time. He had told me he did not want to spend what time he had left bitching & complaining. He wanted to live them just as we always had. So that is what our family does. Good luck, Hope you celebrate a few more.
657540
I live in Texas and my lungs still give me fits.\n\nI don't know if there is a state that is easier on us.\nWhen you have COPD there's all kind of triggers out there.\n\nIf you aren't already a member --go to COPD International and ask this question.
605592
Emphysema is the loss of the lungs recoil.  When you breath in your alveoli (air sacs) expand to get in as much air as possible.  When you exhale, the alveoli contract and squeeze the old air out.  With emphysema the alveloi loose the elasticity and fully expand, but don't fully contract and often become fragile and not fully functioning.  They can't utilize the oxygen they breath in and usually need supplemental oxygen.\n\nI often tell people we are all going to die.  Some peacefully and others painfully.  If the person hasn't quit the smoking habit (I don't know the person I just going off on the majority of people with emphysema smoke) then the possibility of living into the senior years before dying is quite high.  But, if they refuse to quit, then their lives will be short and painful.  Will there be a time when they will be dependent on oxygen, definitely.  But it is key to stop the reason for the injury
903407
Please don't start smoking. You don't need anything to take control of you, and SMOKING will! The disabling effects of lung disease are not worth even the CHANCE that smoking causes 20 percent of emphysema, don't start!!!!!
900947
Wow I have been to the point where I was on a vent also.  I have to admit I don't take care of my asthma the way I should.  I should take advair and I don't.  I give you all the credit in the world for keeping up with your medicine.  I do know how you feel, no one knows how much stress and anxiety you go though when you can't breath if they don't have respiratory problems.  \n\nI don't know if you live in a large populated area, but do you think it may be your environment??? Might be too much pollution around you.  Also keep a journal of what caused your attacks, write down what you were doing and where.  Keep track of the time of day, what you were doing and maybe you can find a trend  and avoid the situation in the future.  \n\nBy all means if you are depressed over your asthma contact a counselor or your doctor.  If you are stressed that can bring on another attack.  \n\nI too try to keep my sense of humor.  Both of us are here to stay and it will take more than a bad lung or two to keep us down....lol\n\nGood luck!