It took me over a year to be diagnosed with COPD but I'm one of the lucky ones

I was diagnosed with COPD at the age of 47. I’d been struggling with breathlessness for months before I went to the doctors about it.

At the time, I was going through a huge amount of stress, as my son was seriously ill in hospital whilst I was still trying to run my business as an environmental awareness consultant. So I just put my breathlessness down to stress. But something didn’t add up, as I’d always been incredibly fit and very physically active, but one day, I noticed I was really struggling to climb up a flight of stairs just to visit my son on the ward. I could barely get to the top without gasping for breath.

I was lucky it only take a year to be diagnosed

It took me over a year to be diagnosed which I think is totally unacceptable. But I was lucky because some people with COPD are experiencing huge delays in getting a diagnosis. I wasn’t given any real advice or support on the condition, apart from a few leaflets, and I was pretty much left to my own devices. I was just given an inhaler and told to come back once a year for an appointment with a respiratory nurse.   

Someone less forceful would have struggled with the battle I had

I’ve also had to really battle to get regular spirometry tests, which help to monitor my condition. They help to check how you’re responding to treatment so they’re reaIly important for managing your COPD well. I think someone less forceful than me would have struggled with that.

I had heard of COPD before, but I had no real idea what it was or how serious it can be. I didn’t know that it was a chronic condition with no cure either which came as a shock. I think the name of the illness is misleading and confusing as people don’t really realise that it’s an incurable lung condition. To be honest, to begin with, I didn’t know what to ask as you don’t always know what you don’t know.

It was through my own research I found out about pulmonary rehab

Before I was diagnosed with COPD, I was incredibly fit. I used to do a one-hour boot camp class at least three times a week, and I also regularly went trampolining regularly. But as my breathing problems intensified, I struggled to keep up, and stopped doing the classes.

It wasn’t until three years after I was diagnosed, through my own research, I found out about  pulmonary rehabilitation (PR). When first I tried to get on the programme, I was told I wasn’t breathless enough to qualify. Eventually I managed to get on the course, and it was great for helping me keep up with my fitness and managing breathlessness.

I've gotten used to a new way of life

In 2021, I was forced to give up work because my breathlessness made me very self-conscious when I was giving presentations or speeches. It also made it impossible to travel too far for work as I got so tired. It was a shock going from a high-octane career to doing nothing, but my health had to come first. I feel rewarded by different things now and although I'm still getting used to the new me, I’ve found my new way of life makes me so very happy.