It's a good day to breathe!

End stage emphysema is all about not being able to breathe. I’ve seen the commercials that compare COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: the “catch-all” term for a variety of lung diseases) to having an elephant sit on your chest. I’ve also seen one where different people spell their n-a-m-e and then c-o-p-d. I don’t get that one. Either way, those folks must be at an early disease stage to do all of the activities shown. Let’s say an average person has 100% lung function. I have 18%. You can be considered for transplant at 40%.

When I am at my best I draw in a low volume of air fairly quickly and take a loooong time to exhale. When I perform any activity or am emotional I breathe fast and can't take in enough air. Then I use pursed lip breathing to break the cycle. It feels like I’m pushing against a belt buckled around my chest. It takes effort to move the rib cage out over and over and over again.

I’m grateful to have things that help me through the day!

1) There are 6 prescriptions that assist with keeping my lung passages open, fight inflammation, fungal infections, and bacterial infections. The monthly cost now is $4580.

2) The blue box on the bottom left is an oxygen concentrator. There’s a 50’ green hose with a nasal cannula at the end. I wear this around the house 24/7 so that I can breathe since my lungs can’t get enough O2 out of normal air.

3) The blue box on a stand is an AVAP machine which is a ventilator with facemask that gently pushes air into my lungs. My diaphragm and muscles often get fatigued from working so hard to breathe and this gives them a break to allow me the chance to recover.

4) The large green top oxygen tank shown on a cart lets me navigate away from home for 3 hours without changing air supply.

5) The black shoulder bag holds a smaller and lighter tank for me to carry. At my current flow rate it lasts 40 minutes.