Starting Again - Caring For COPD

I've done a bit of research into what exactly I can do now my COPD has starting to make itself known to me. As well as regular prescription medicines of course, I've researched a little bit into every day, common cures that can help me manage the condition better.  This is what I've found so far:

Firstly, I'm never going to be able to replace/repair the lung function that I've lost ( as minimal as it may be), so I'm looking at minimising further damage and slowing it down altogether.

Taking Flaxseed: this is rich in Omega 3 fatty acids which help play a role in decreasing lung inflammation and easing breathing. I'm supposed to blend a 1/4 cup of ground flaxseed with my morning drink. I'll be cheating on this - I'll be buying flaxseed capsules.

Increasing Antioxidants: Studies apparently show smokers with a higher intake of Vitamin E are less prone to develop COPD. Other vitamins I'm supposed to be taking now are:

Vitamin C: 500-1,000 milligrams three times a day
Vitamin E: 400-800 International Units (IU) daily. Looking for Vitamin E mixed with mixed Tocopherols, the most effective form of the nutrient.
Selenium: 200 micrograms daily
Coenzyme Q10: 10-50 milligrams three times a day
Taurine: up to 1,500 milligrams a day by divided doses
Magnesium: strengthens breathing muscles, 300-500 milligrams daily
Carnitine: 250 milligrams one to three times a day

So, having checked my normal health suppliers web site, the initial cost of getting myself set up with all these tablets is a massive £32.05, which is enough for about 2, maybe three months. Expensive, isn't it?

20th January -The Last Week

Since getting back home Sunday night I've just been hanging around and recovering. My medication continued until today, when I've finally finished all the tablets. This is my daily tablet count - which I had to have three times daily for four days.

I had to go and see my GP on Tuesday for a referral meeting, where I was checked out in the surgery - my fingertip Oxygen level is now 97% and I've got a sick note lasting until 4.30pm, Tuesday 24th January when I should be signed off sick and declared fit for work, starting back to work on Wednesday 25th.

I went to work yesterday to hand my sick notes in and to do some posting - basically I've copied the sick notes, sent them to all my creditors, saying I won't be able to pay my bills next month. I've also seen my doggy friend Misty who I've built up a relationship with  over the last few months (she belongs to one of the site's neighbour's who I've started talking to as he walks the dog  every day. Here she is, coming to see me here:

And when I got back home, I had a suprise waiting for me: Misty had sent me a Get well Soon card which now has pride of place in my front room:

And that brings up right up to date now. COPD (Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) is one of the worse diseases that a human being can get. I have had this for years, directly as a result of smoking. I now have to make major life changes - and that's the subject of the next post.

Friday 13th January - In Hospital

Sorry I haven't been posting for a while again, but this flu's really taken it out of me. Here's a summary of my recent Twitter posts for the last week or so:

10th Jan: What a waste of a day, damn flu. All I've done is watch TV, sleep, shiver, cough and I had a really long & bad fever this afternoon!

10th Jan : And the worse thing is, it's not getting better, if anything, it's worse. This flu has gone straight to my chest and it's hard to breathe!

11th Jan: That's another day totally wasted then doing nothing. Was going to go back to work tomorrow, but glad I'm not now - breathing getting worse!

11th Jan: And I couldn't get into the doctors today either- no appointments, got to ring again 8.30am tomorrow to try again!

12th Jan: Half past midnight here- up for my (now) usual cough mixture and Anadin session. Again.

12th Jan: First time on the net today! Got into doctors, new meds sorted, 5 days of steroids, no improvement yet. Fed up of being ill now, not funny!

12th Jan: So, another day of sleeping, watching daytime TV, & nothing else. No breath or energy to move or do anything. What a criminal waste of time!

And that was my last Twitter post. I was tired all the time, went to bed at 9.30pm, but couldn't sleep. Every time I moved my lungs filled up with fluid and I started choking. At Midnight-ish I took my quilt and pillow downstairs as I couldn't climb them at this stage. Everytime I moved I had to stand upright, lean against my wardrobe, and wait to catch my breath - it  took ages to get back every time, and it took longer every time.

At 3am I couldn't take anymore.

I had again woken up and just couldn't catch my breath at all for about 15 minutes when I eventually gave in and called the ambulance using 999. I woke Baby Daughter up and she went to the hospital in the Ambulance with me. 

Turns out the flu, this time, and on the back of my previous flu a week or so previously, had turned into a pneumonia type bacterial infection on my lungs, affecting my COPD. The Ambulance staff, on attending, put me on a nebaliser and Oxygen mask and the lungs, after about another 15 minutes cleared enough for me to breathe.

But that didn't last long. By the time I'd stood up, walked to the front door after waiting for Baby Daughter, the lungs had once again clogged up (within 5 minutes) so I had to go back on the breathing equipment again in the Ambulance as we went to hospital. I ended up being admitted to Kings Lynn's Queen Elisabeth Hospital.

It took the A & E three hours to bring my temperature down from 41 deg F by pumping me with antibiotics. At this time I was hoping to be able to go home; but I was admitted, and eventually stayed in hospital until 5pm Sunday, 15th .

I was discharged with a four days more antibiotic medication, which has just ran out today. So, basically, I was on Oxygen and intravenous antibiotics from the the time I went in, I was taken off the Oxygen Saturday morning, being reduced to a three hour nebaliser only until Sunday morning. 

By Sunday morning, I had been taken off everything and was just on oral antibiotics, being supervised through the day, until I was discharged.