GRATEFUL – 4 COPD MONTH, NEAR DEATH & DEATH!!

By Mr. William

“A person without good breathing, is a person with a life of constant caution, so let’s do what we can, to learn what we can, to improve what we can.” (Will Dursens)

            I try and talk about being grateful often though normally it is not often enough.

            FIRST thing – be grateful as it is COPD AWARENESS MONTH!! Be happy that we have a whole month to talk and talk and talk some more about the nasty disease that makes life so very rough for so many.  This month of COPD AWARENESS for me is even more important as our current administration in office is tearing down the protections for cleaner air and water!! Something which we will discuss in other formats in the next few days and weeks.

            SECOND thing – be grateful for family!! My wife’s brother-in-law lost his mother at age 88 this past weekend. She was a mighty lady in Chicago and between her and Mark’s father, they were well known in so many communities of the city due to their positions of work and standing. Our brother-in-law Mark has already lost a brother, sister-in-law and a cousin (late actor Dennis Farina) too early and as Mark aims to hit the age of 60 next year this will be a time of rough roads with both major holidays ahead.

            THIRD thing – BE GRATEFUL FOR FAMILY!! I had a phone call from my younger brother Jim on Friday evening telling me that he was in the hospital after suffering a mild heart attack!! The call brought a chill to my body that sank clear to the bones. I could’ve lost my brother, my best friend, my confidant at just the age of 54.

            Thankfully, my brother’s heart attack was minor (although 100% blockage is nothing to take lightly in any way) and they dropped two stents in line on Friday and then went back in yesterday (Monday) and put a third stent in his other artery and as of noon today he is dressed and heading home. Grateful, grateful, grateful.

            Since it was three weeks shy of my major, ‘widow-maker’, heart attack seven years ago, I had much to offer in hope for the future and just how the road will be ahead for my brother.

            When I had my heart attack, my brother and sister-in-law arrived at the hospital within a few hours just to spend some time with my and for that I will be forever grateful. Because of that, I made a run to my daughter’s home, parked my car and she drove me the three hours to spend Saturday afternoon with my brother, wife, three nieces and my great-nephew.

            Humor part of the trip was when my sister-in-law and oldest niece returned from home (they made a trip to get my brother some clothes and his c-pap machine), she looked at my brother and mentioned it wasn’t too bad as she only left three lights on and the two televisions. I looked at her and laughed, ‘that’s called leaving in a hell of a hurry’. For which my brother’s only comment was – ‘did you shut the door?’.

            I assured my brother that like the rest of his life where he could take lessons learned from me and not make things so rough for himself and family, he did the same with his heart attack as it was a ‘mild’ heart attack and not a ‘widow-maker’ one like I had where I literally died for several minutes in the emergency room and permanently damaged a small chunk of my heart itself.

            Plus, I was happy to remind him that his rehab ahead will be made much easier due to the fact that he has something I have never had – a good set of lungs!! Rehabbing with breathing issues that is many times brought on by exercise is a pain in the ass and he should feel very appreciative of the fact that he will not have to fight that problem.

            I did tease him a bunch on the other big-ticket item to recovery – changing of the diet. My brother is not happy with the idea of smaller portions, a whole lot less salt and many more vegetables, something which he has never been very big on. I also told him he may need to learn to eat fish like salmon and tilapia.

            The most important thing I take away from the past four days is the reminder that we all need to be GRATEFUL!

            GRATEFUL that my COPD still has not progressed to oxygen 24/7 yet, though with the heart issues it still is a struggle many times to get as much done as I would like.

            GRATEFUL that my brother is going to survive and thrive as this incident will give him the inspiration to lose some much-needed weight and he has the lungs to do the exercising to accomplish that much better than I have been able to.

            GRATEFUL that we have a whole month (COPD AWARENESS MONTH) to push our word out to the public about the need for more testing, more regulations to keep the air clearer so COPD does not become more prevalent than it already is.

            GRATEFUL that I have this website blog and the ability to put words together on paper or computer to share my life with others and offer them encouragement as much as possible.

            NEVER BE UNGRATEFUL as it will damage your life mentally, physically and more – it will cost you relationships which, if you are suffering from any kind of chronic illness, are most important of all to keep us from feeling alone.

            BE GRATEFUL TODAY – think of those in your life you are grateful for and send them a card or better yet either go see them or pick up the phone and remind them how much you appreciate them being part of the world you walk in.

And that my friends, is where ‘Lenny’ and Me are 4 today.

Like always a few notes and reminders:

If you have any comments or questions about my postings, feel free to leave a comment on either at this blog, at the email address of wheezingaway@gmail.com or on https://www.facebook.com/copdtravels/.

            ALWAYS 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.

With that, I bid to all – smiles, prayers, blessings and steady breathing – Mr. William.

(Copyright@2019, CrossDove Writers through wheezingaway.com – no part of this write may be used or copied without written permission.)

NOTES: Sometimes we share what may seem like medical information, but we are only giving descriptions and highlights of various aspects of having COPD and/or Asthma and no way do we ever want our information to be considered medical treatment type of information, always consult your physician for more, clearer medical founded information.