We are on that home stretch to nearly everyone’s favorite holiday – Christmas.
The past several months I read my way through several new books I picked up about COPD and some of what I learned were things we with COPD should already be doing.
One is when you have a health issue such as COPD, the Christmas season comes with some needed extra care, responses and planning.
As much as we would like to take in all the sights, sounds and events of Christmas, when COPD flashes signs of its unsightly side it becomes the time that we that fight the illness need to ‘PRIORITIZE’.
Yep having to ‘prioritize’ sometimes will put us in an uncomfortable position of maybe missing out on some event for which we had so looked forward to attending. But in the long term, family/friends/caretakers should and will understand.
We with COPD have to prioritize this time of year especially because most of us have to be aware of strong aroma’s from holiday candles, trees and sometimes even cooking.
We also need to be aware of weather and how it may affect us coming and going from an event – we may get to an event and enjoy it, but if the weather is blowing cold and snow and we get hammered with it on the way home then we face the reality of being down for several hours or days, will it be worth it.
This prioritizing affects us all – it even happens to me and it happened as recently as yesterday.
Though weeks on my schedule I was given no choice but to miss both my grandson’s wrestling club chili fundraiser (and I love chili), but also a middle school choir concert that had two granddaughters performing.
But I had to prioritize and having just gotten home from a heart procedure (had a pacemaker put in) I was not in any mood or shape (parts of my body were just still way to tender and hurting) to go or be anywhere, so I had no choice but say no.
Lucky for me I have a very understanding family and some grandkids who love their ‘Papa’ so much and worry so much about his health that they more than understood – still did not make me feel that much better about missing some grandkids events, although Papa hugs go a long ways if fixing that feeling.
So enjoy your Christmas sights, sounds and events as best you can – but remember to ‘prioritize’ so that you do not pay a physical price in doing so.
As always – please remember if you or anyone you know have any symptoms involving lung and breathing functionality, and they linger over and over while disrupting a lifestyle – then please ask questions and get it checked out.
Remember always that without breathing a person is without life itself.
With that I bid to all – smiles, prayers, blessings and steady breathing – Mr. William.
(Copyright@2014, CrossDove Writer)
(Image used cleared for use by yahoo.com and/or google.images.com)
DISABILITIES DAILY 