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La Trobe University
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Living with COPD: Personal experiences

Speech Pathologist and woman with COPD on oxygen talkingWhether you have just been diagnosed with COPD, have been living with COPD for many years or are a friend or family member of someone with COPD, it is sometimes hard to express your feelings or thoughts about life with COPD. The following are quotes and personal experiences from real people - just like you - who know what you are going through – they've lived it and they are living it. Here they share with you their thoughts, experience and advice.

Being told you have COPD

  • "I wasn't diagnosed for years, I'd given up smoking for fourteen – fifteen years ago and it was then years after that I was diagnosed. If I had been earlier I would've found out all about it"- Anon.
  • "My problem was, when you first got diagnosed with it they said, oh you've got COPD "What the hell is COPD?" You know, they don't tell you nothing. It wasn't till I got home and got on the internet and started looking round that I found out you know exactly what it was. Cause I thought, okay you can have a couple of pills or something like that and get rid of it…but no, doesn't work that way"- Anon.
  • "There's something about them (tablets) and I've forgotten how to swallow them. It's just that I've got to stand there and think, "What must I use (to swallow)?"- Anon.
  • "I came back a few years ago and had trouble with swallowing and they could never really work out what it was. I never heard of a speech pathologist before I got to the hospital"- Anon.

Getting help with COPD

  • "I think there's a lot of information out there if we knew how to find it"- Anon.
  • "Every time I've needed something, the doctor's got an answer…but you've got to present a symptom"- Anon.
  • "You've got to learn how to manage it and if you get an episode or something like that there's no use panicking you've got to sit back and think about what you've got to do"-Anon.

Living with COPD

  • "For me, I've always felt ashamed, of what I've had, so I've virtually been underground. Until I came here (COPD support group), it's the first time I've felt comfortable to be able to cough, feel breathless"- Anon.
  • "It's there all the time (the cough). If you're in a theatre and it's quiet, then I'll cough. I see babies jump. Because it's a horrible cough, babies jump…dog's jump. It's sort of a really, really embarrassing thing to have I think" - Anon.
  • "Most people either think you've got the flu or you're a smoker" - Anon

Disclaimer: The information contained on this website and its associated downloads is designed as a resource tool for Speech Pathologists and General Practitioners in management of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and is to be used as a guide only. While every effort was made to provide full and accurate information at the time of publication, the authors, Alfred Health, and La Trobe University do not take any responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the content.