C.O.P.D. - Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Linda

October 21, 2003

My name is Connie Jacobs, I am Linda's daughter-in-law.

While on vacation in December 2002, Linda suffered a setback too difficult to overcome. I personally take comfort in knowing that she is no longer struggling with her illness. Linda's absence is deeply felt by all who knew and loved her.

Our family wishes to thank each and every one of you that extended your friendship and support to Linda during the last several years. You gave her the strength and drive to work on her site to help others gain knowledge about this debilitating disease.

Chronic (continual, permanent, incurable)
Obstructive (blocks)
Pulmonary (pertaining to the lungs)
Disease (condition with signs and symptoms)

In most cases, COPD is a sneaky disease, you sow the seeds of it when you first start to smoke, and you nurture it by continuing to smoke. By the time you are in your glory days of life, in your 40-60s and older, you loose the ability to breathe without great effort. Then there are the ones that are unlucky enough to be born with it, and don't know it for many years.

The last cigarette I had was 12/24/97

COPD, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, affects approximate 30 million people in the United States, but only 50% (15 million) of these individuals are ever diagnosed. Chronic Bronchitis is just one portion of COPD, and may include asthma and other respiratory problems. COPD, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, alone is now the fourth leading cause of death in the USA, accounting for at least 110,000 deaths and costing the United States 23.9 billion dollars or more per year. COPD can decrease an individuals breathing capacity 20% to 40%, even before an individual is aware of any shortness of breath.

COPD is a disease that is among the top four killers of Americans, yet few have ever heard of it. These pages are my way of trying to let the public know of a disease that few have ever heard of yet it is a killer. If you have been exposed to smoke, by smoking, or as in second hand smoke, pollution, forest or brush fires or other similar causes. You have been exposed to the possibility of having COPD. It is a slow killer, it robs you of oxygen and some of the medications taken to tame it robs you of your calcium. THERE IS NO CURE!!! Then there are the oxygen tanks and oxygen concentrator you may be fastened to for the rest of your life.

This is one of the Support Groups available online: This content changes daily.

Angel

All the stories are written by the individual they are about, all I do is format them for these pages.

The sooner you know, the sooner you can get the proper treatment. This will give you a better Quality of life and a Longer Stronger life.

My husband and I are leaving of a winter vacation about October 16, we will be gone for about 4 months. First vacation since 1988. We have a 1979, 33 ft motorhome with a 5 KW generator. We have taken out one of the chairs and are going to place a large Liquid Oxygen tank there, we will use the chair seatbelt anchors to securely tie down the tank. Each large tank holds enough for several days. I fill up my portable tanks from the large tank. The portables last about 5 to 8 hours, depending on their size. They are lighter and smaller than the compressed gas. We will use the concentrator when we are at camps with hookups, when boondocking I will use a portable, because many areas won't let us use the generator at night. They are lighter and smaller than the compressed gas. We plan on towing our 1984 Nissan pickup and my rascal will be in the back of it.

DISCLAIMER: This site, and anything which is included in this site, is for the purpose of information, education, an aid in daily living, and support for caregivers. I am an individual with COPD and this is my research for my knowledge, I publish it here as an indication of the direction of my research, and my condition. As always, please consult your physician for any questions you may have as to your general health, any pulmonary condition you may have, or any information which you may wish to discuss.

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Last Updated: 05/14/02

Counter reset to zero during move to 20m.com, prior count was is excess of 13,000

I needed a new hobby so I decided to try weaving.
My Weaving Page

I'm listing my boxes of books on Half.com, over 580. (the cost of power has gone up dramatically)

Now I am placing thing things on eBay and BargainandHaggle.com. Hope to lighten the load, a yard sale would be too difficult on me. Hopefully we will sell our home in the next year or so and move to a lower altitude.

Maybe you remember some of these pictures:

Important Notice
Due to the decision of this Host to charge for uploading and other services, this site will get limited updates. I will be updating it as information is available, but it will be limited to free services only. I appologize, but I cannot afford to pay their new charges.