When Pam Channer from Fife developed a winter cough that wouldn’t go away, she carried on life as usual, not realising until much later how deadly lung condition COPD would impact her life.
“After an X-ray the doctor said it showed the beginnings of COPD but it probably wouldn’t bother me for many years so nothing to worry about,” Pam explains.
“Now, on a daily basis, it impacts absolutely everything I do. Yet I count myself one of the lucky ones.
“One in five of us will get a serious lung condition during our lifetime – leading to extreme breathlessness and difficulties with everyday tasks,” says Pam.
“But there’s huge misunderstanding and misinformation out there.”
Here, Pam, from Dunfermline, tells us:
- The symptoms and how she lives well with COPD
- How she’s been judged for being an ex-smoker – and even for coughing
- Her 3 tips for others – including her local support ‘lifeline’.
A damning report by Asthma + Lung UK Scotland for World COPD Day reveals a fifth of Scots surveyed, with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), waited an average four years for diagnosis with even fewer getting recommended levels of care.
Pam says: “COPD differs on different days. If I’m having a flare-up I can’t walk any distance.
“I’m constantly breathless and often have to sit down because I can’t get my breath back.
Running for a bus
“For those who don’t have the condition I explain COPD as if you’ve been running for a bus, except you can’t get your breath back normally.
“It used to be if I climbed stairs or walked up slopes; now it strikes even if I’m walking on a level surface or just talking for any length of time.”
Pam was diagnosed aged 50, while living abroad. She says: “I didn’t really know what COPD was though my father had it and, as a heavy smoker, I probably should have.
“The condition was never explained to me. So when I discovered by chance a few years ago that it’s a progressive, incurable condition, that was an enormous shock.”
The fact Pam was unaware of how serious COPD was gives her mixed feelings.
“In a way that probably did me a favour because I didn’t worry about it,” she says.
Coughing in public
“On the other hand, because I didn’t know what it was, I carried on smoking for years, which I shouldn’t have. If I’d only understood it better, I’d have made more effort to quit.”
And Pam has encountered stigma because of that.
She explains: “People think it is just a smokers’ disease. Someone said to me ‘well it’s self-inflicted, isn’t it’? I said, ‘what so it’s payback’? They didn’t mean to be insulting. But that happens all over the place.”
It’s the same with coughing in public, Pam says: “Coughing’s always been stigmatised. It’s just worse now. If you go to a cafe and start coughing, people look at you.
“But at the end of the day, people will think what they want.
“And I’m comfortable knowing I’m doing as much as I can to keep myself as healthy as possible and to stay off the NHS lists. I don’t want to be a drain on anywhere.”
Pam’s 3 top tips for living with COPD
Pam, who now has two different inhalers and other medication, says: “There’s a big gap in knowledge when the person eventually gets a diagnosis. The information given is very patchy and some places you don’t get any.
“One of the biggest challenges is bridging that gap of information.”
Pam has found support locally she says: “Breathe Easy Fife has been an absolute lifeline. It gives me the confidence to know I actually can still have a life.
“I’m very lucky. My decline has been very slow and steady up until the last five years. And my eldest son and his lovely wife nearby, along with their children, are a huge help and always a listening ear.”
Here are Pam’s 3 top tips:
1. Exercise and take advice
Thanks to Fife Active Options programme I go to the gym twice a week.
I’ve learned exercise is key to managing COPD. It’s helping my breathing, my balance and it’s strengthening other muscles as well and it’s all doing me good.
So go to the exercise classes. Do the walks. Keep yourself as fit as you possibly can be, because if you keep yourself physically active then you will feel better mentally.
2. Check out Breathe Easy
Accept the fact you need support. Support is vital and spending time with other people who have lung conditions helps enormously.
Breathe Easy Fife is an invaluable support group for those who suffer from or care for someone with a lung condition. We meet monthly to exercise, share tips and experiences, chat and have lots of laughs over tea and cake. Priceless!
3. Ask, ask, ask questions!
If you don’t understand something a doctor says, ask them to explain in plain language. Some people are too embarrassed or feel they might be seen as stupid – just ask!
Joseph Carter, Head of Asthma + Lung UK Scotland, says: “Across Scotland we hear from people struggling to breathe, who, because they’re left unaware of their condition, aren’t getting the right treatment and support quick enough.
“We are calling on the Scottish Government to ensure everyone can access spirometry in their local area. Far too many surgeries stopped providing the vital diagnostic test during Covid and we need to get it back.”
- Asthma + Lung UK is urging people to check whether they are receiving the right care by completing the COPD Patient Passport. For more information click here or call 0300 222 5800.
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