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From Beautywood.com
To: meta@beautywood.com Subject: copd Date: Sat, 15 Mar 2008 10:17:52 -0500
COPD TIPS Hi! I have been living with COPD for a while now. I hope these writings will help anyone who has been on oxygen for just a few hours and those who have been on for many years. Seven Topics Covered: 1. TIPS FOR WASHING LONG HAIR, 2. TIPS FOR EXERSIZING, 3. WHEN PEOPLE LOOK AT YOU, 4. SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT, 5. HOW TO KEEP YOUR HOSE OUT OF THE WAY, 6. OUR TRAVEL MACHINE 7. EASY BREATHING TECHNIQUES 8. LINKS 1.TIPS FOR WASHING LONG HAIR How to wash your hair. I have long hair, and it holds a lot of water, it's heavy and thick. I use a hand held shower head and rubbermaid stool to help me. 1. I separate the hair using three rubber bands. I section off the top, including the sides, then I split the back of the head into two parts, like for pig tails and band those two parts up. 2. I get into the shower, bringing the hose over the top of the shower curtain so that water doesn't travel along the hose onto the floor. 3. I sit on a small Rubbermaid stool. This gives me stability and makes it easier to wash and rinse my hair. 4. Start with one of the back sections of hair. Pull off the rubber band and wet and wash and rinse as much as you need, using your hand held shower head. Then, wash and rinse the other side of the back. Then once you have the back hair and scalp clean, do the top by bending your head forward so that the top of the head can be rinsed by holding the shower head into the top of head and the water doesn't go anywhere but the top of your head and mostly down in front, but not on your face. You can rinse the whole head now if you think it's needed. 5. Stand up now and rinse your body and face. 6. Grab a towel before you get out of the shower, so you can dry off quickly and not get too cold. Then, step out of the shower and rest on the seat for awhile. I like to brush my teeth before I get into the shower so that when I get out, all tired, I am ready to put on some clothes and have a nice rest. 2. TIPS FOR EXERCIZING I use a stationery bike. There are no parts to wear out, there is no energy being paid for, there is only the pace you set for yourself and a nice comfortable place to rest in between exersizing. And you get to work out a large number of muscles at one time. I am on 3 to 3.5 liters of oxygen per minute, so I can do about 5 minutes on the bike for a normal daily work out. I try to do more and usually can do 7 or 8 minutes a day. It usually takes me about twice as long to actually do the work. So a five minute work out may take me up to ten minutes with resting time included. I also like to walk around the grocery and big box shopping stores. They are usually clean, brightly lit and, if you can pick your times, not too filled with people to bump into. If you can do a hour or even fifteen minutes, you will have a better day.
Another of my favorite things to do is leg lifts. I lay on a flat surface and lift one leg then the other in turn. I start with 12 lifts to warm up, then, I continue with another 12 or 24, or whatever I can manage without getting too winded. I go up to 140. I do what I am able to do at the time. I take my time. If it takes an hour, that's okay, it's still exercize and it still counts. I now have a completely flat stomach. Benefits like that are nice.
I do arm circles and all the ways I can move my arms, I do. It seems to help the chest muscles a lot. And
3. WHEN PEOPLE LOOK AT YOU Don't mind if people look at you. They are either concerned, don't understand what they are seeing, simply curious, or just spaced out. Children are especially curious, and some might get a little afraid. Mostly from a bad movie they have seen, more than of you or me. I try to smile and allow the children to ask questions. I tell them this is how I get my air. That seems to make it alright for them. I am thinking about putting a pretty flower with an O2 sign on my oxygen condenser so people will see it and feel better knowing what it is. 4. SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT When I first went on O2, I slept well. Then I started loosing my cannula, or my nostrils would clog up or my throat would dry up in the night and I would wake up in a start. So, I went for two months like that, sleeping only 4-5 hours a night. Then, I'd nap in the day and that messes up the sleep cycle even more. Turns out, I was not getting enough O2, because we wanted to use the Sequal Eclipse at night and that only goes up to 3.0 lpm. We switched over to the Invacare O2 condenser at 3.2 lpm or so. It has been much easier to sleep.That, plus I have adjusted my inhaler to just before bed time and early in the morning because it helps clear my nostrils, so my throat does not dry up and that feels so much better. 5. HOW TO KEEP YOUR HOSE OUT OF THE WAY We have a clip that has a snap on a small piece of plastic which is used for employee security cards. The hose fits right in the snap on plastic piece and the clip clips on a strong part of my clothing...I use the seam for strength on the side of my garments. The hose will stay on one side, will absorb the shock of the dog laying on your hose before your neck gets wrenched. If you don't have a clippy thing, try to fashion one from some things in your sewing box or bag clips used to close potato chip bags. 6. OUR TRAVEL MACHINE We bought a Sequal Eclipse oxygen condenser for travel. It is a good machine, but several things went wrong for us. (We ALWAYS carry a back up tank and regulator in case we need it.) The Eclipse plugs into your car cigarette lighter, ironically enough. Well, the part that touches the lighter metal seemed to be crooked and would loose solid contact, the Eclipse would start beeping and wouldn't stop, so we had to have that replaced. No problem. The company stands behind it's product very well. I tell you this story so you can see how important it is to check out every detail of the equipment you are using to support your life.
7. EASY BREATHING I have not been to the respiratory therapist yet, but I think it is a good idea to load up on some air by breathing deeply as possible before you go and start walking around or eating or going to the toilet. All these things require an extra amount of oxygen and you must be sure to do yourself proud and get all the oxygen you can to avoid feeling bad. Once you get to where you are going, if you are out of breath, my nurse told me to sniff in through my nostrils, very short and quickly, hold one second and send air out through pursed lips. You should hear a shhhhhhhhhh sound for a count of three or so. I do that three times...sniff in, hold, blow out for 3 with pursed lips, then continue to breath in your normal manner. This helps you recover your breath more quickly. 8. LINKS
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/copd/DS00916/DSECTION=11 http://www.lungusa2.org/embargo/copd/ http://www.copd-international.com/Library/Breathing_Exercises.htm http://www.breathineasy.com/tips.asp http://www.lifesteps.com/gm/Atoz/ency/emphysema.jsp
