As I was reading your discussion, my reaction was just the opposite. It's like Wow! Bikers are around with COPD for 20+ years. I'd like to turn your experience around to a Wow moment - how about a statutionary bike? I saw an ad on TV where they have bikes connected to videos so there's scenery passing as you remain in one place. Don't have any details. You could also spray a little Febreze spring air; throw a scarf around your neck, get that fan blowing - I'm feeling better just writing about the possibility.

Please take your bike encounter as an opportunity to do just a little more for yourself.

I'm going to have to ride on Joany's back fender for this. Meeting someone that is living a quality life with COPD is a great thing. There are plenty of doom and gloomer's out there with stories of all the things they can't do because of COPD. Anything that provides a positive angle to dealing with this disease is a good thing.

My MIL is 87 y/o.........she still smokes........has for years..............she gets along better than I do.....................my father was DX with bladder cancer in 1970..................they told him he might life 1 year with surgery..........he lived 12....and was in pretty good shape considering :)

I'm not sure I want to live 20 more years.....................but if I did, I would certainly take Joany's advice:):):)..............Lots of way to ride a bike and never leave the house.................and you can usually pick up one of them stationary ones pretty cheap at second hand store.....................folks buy em all the time, then change their minds:(

when people see me on O2 it seems like at least half reply, "yes, i have COPD too." like i'm doing it wrong or something.
gosh, maybe i never went to the dr enough or got lung xrays while i was still healthy living with COPD to be diagnosed. (did that make the sense i wanted it to?)
i do know as i look back that over the past 20 years; i would running around the ring showing dogs i would get SOB sooner & sooner each year, until the last year showing i was noticing that i liked showing in low altitude climates rather than high.
and over the years, moving irrigation lines, shoveling, hiking and all the hard physical labor i did i got shorter & shorter of breath over the years.
but when i was healthy, i never went to the doctor.
in fact i remember thinking hiking and getting so short of breath while camping two years ago, "i really have to quit smoking!"
it was then that i got e-coli & when they x-rayed my stomach they found "something in my lungs."
i feel blessed that they found it then so i could get the O2 i needed & the push to quit smoking.
in other words, don't let it get to you ...you don't know how long you lived with this before you were diagnosed! i wonder how all these "healthy" people know they have COPD before they are sick with it???? like i said i didn't request lung x-rays as a general checkup thing LOL

Hello,
Please don't be discouraged. I have met several folks that are not as severe as I am but unable to get around as little as I do, and I have met folks more severe that is walking for miles and riding bikes, ect!!! It all works on is different and all we can do is what WE can do.
Please don.t sit around bemoaning the fact you have a deadly disease, but while you can, do what you can do to live and stay active.
OK, you can not ride a bike, I can,t either, but I can ride with the wind on my stationary bike and walk like crazy on my treadmill!
Somewhere there is someone else that can ride longer, and walk farther, SO WHAT!!! They are not me, and I will do the best I can do , for as long as I can do it!!
Blessings to all of you
BJ

Anyone who has reported being successful with exercise while have low lung function started out slowly. Just because one gets short of breath walking from the kitchen to the bathroom does not mean they can't exercise on a treadmill. You start at 1 mph or less for five mins and then gradually build up. It makes a big difference.

Comparing apples and oranges is dangerous for us. If I had mild COPD diagnosed 20 years ago (and actually paid attention) I'd might be better of physically today if the disease had not progressed as quickly as others. But then my genetic makeup may have allowed the disease free play and ended up incapacitated sooner. Until you apply GOLD standards and lung measurements to COPD- relative to a person's complete health, don't expect to make any sense of someone saying they have this disease. And don't try and use it as a mirror.
Getting a handle on the things we need to do to fend off this disease aren't easy at times, so we do the best we can. Remember that we have this disease - it doesn't own us.

Hugs,
Dennis

Thank you to everyone who responded to my post! All of your kind words have encouraged me beyond what you could imagine!

Most of my life, I've seen my glass as half empty; but because of the epiphany I had while reading all your posts, I now choose to live my life like the rest of my "family" here on DS. I refuse to compare my health with anyone else from now on! I'll take it one day at a time, enjoy the health I have now, and continue to pray for a cure for this deadly disease.

Joany, you're so right; I should have chosen to look at this experience from the opposite direction; as an encouragement that I can still live a quality life even with this disease! The suggestion for a stationary bike or treadmill is a wonderful idea! I'm going to start looking around for one that's reasonably priced.

Again, thank you all for your encouragement! You've made a huge difference in my outlook and determination against this disease! You've been a real blessing to me!

Higginsp, I strongly encourage you to start a daily exercise regimen. It can make a positive difference in the quality of your life both now and in the future. I am one of those people with severe emphysema who walks and rides a (stationary) bike several miles each day. Build up slowly and you'll be surprised at what you can do.

Exercise is 2nd only to quitting smoking in managing copd.

Susan

I love this discussion and now I am going to get a treadmill. My sons bought me a real bicycle two years ago and I rewarded them by falling off repeatedly and looked like I had lost a major battle. Then they bought me a stationary bike and I love it - it's recumbent and I can ride while catching up on magazines.

Walking has been a problem due to spinal stenosis - at age 74 I keep forgetting all of the health nuisances I have - but now I think a treadmill would help me walk farther and what a treat that would be. The only thing that helps me walk now is a shopping cart at the grocery store - as long as I am pushing it, I am walking and that feels good.

Time for me to buy myself a Christmas present? Thank you for all of the input.

Hugs, Cindy

Good plan! I do water aerobics a couple of times a week. Can go like 60 in th water but all the dressing and undressing is hard.
Walking has become more arduous so I also am glad to hang on to a cart.

I joined a gym so I can start back swiming as walking has become so diffucult for me with my back and joint problems. Higginsp I do know how you felt as something simular happned to me in the past it took me a while to get over it mind you at the time I didn't have all you guys on DS for support.

Higgins,

COPD progresses at a rate within us that it chooses. Some make unwanted rapid progress, others it takes its' time. I am tickled that there is someone out there riding a bike who has COPD, clearly the diease is making very slow progress with her. But I also think your doing pretty good as well, minimal precription drugs, and no needed O2 support.

But you are so very right it is very scary, and it does in fact bring things into focus. But don't let it discourage you. Take care, Bill

I bought my staionary bike a few years ago for $8, yup $8, at a thrift shop. It is small, my son helped me paint it and I have a basket of flowers (fake) attached to it, a ringy bell on it and streamers. I just used some of that silk type ribbon for streamers but curling ribbon would be fun too! My house is pretty small, I decided if it had to be in the living room, it darn well better look nice! Oh...I covered the seat with a piece of foam, covered that with lace and have fringe around the edges, all with my glue gun.

Leenabean that sounds like so much fun! I might have to get a dingy bell and some streamers for my treadmill.