Hi April! Welcome to our group.

The diagnosis was scary for me also. Please let us know what the doctor says.

Hugs to you from me.

welcome to the group, I'm fairly new as well...my diagnosis of stage 4 copd & pulmonary sarcoidosis was very scary too...and although I've had more than enough time to "get used to" my illnesses my journey through life has been extremely difficult...however, I have become more thankful for the good in my life & it has made me more appreciative for the days when I feel good...I know it's sounds weird but I am actually living my life to the fullest now since I take nothing for granted. there are a lot of good treatments out there & this doesn't have to be a death sentence.

(((HUGS)))
Michelle

A radiologist told me in the mid-1990s, that my chest x-ray indicated that I had emphysema. I am not on inhalers or oxygen 20 years later. I did everything I could to improve my immune system with herbs, vitamins and essential oils (aromatherapy) and changed my diet and maintained a positive attitude. The diagnosis was a wakeup call to take better care of myself.

Welcome, April. It's gonna be okay....at least better than it seems to you right now. As you get a bit older you will discover everyone comes up with something to deal with. If this is yours at least you have us for company: ). Take heart (whatever that means).

I hope you got some reassurance today, and maybe some good news. I had sudden onset of symptoms last August and my x-Ray showed emphysema. My second pulmonologist really sat down with me and showed me why my x-Ray concerned him. It's been a confusing journey thus far for me as my diagnosis is a little iffy with inconsistent findings and doctors expressing uncertainty. I ask a little here and read a lot, especially when I am feeling scared or can't breathe. Welcome to the group and I pray things went well for you today.

Just take it one day at a time and do your best to stay in the present moment. Ditto to breathe Better! use this as a wake up call to start taking better care of yourself.

People live with various forms of COPD just fine for decades and many of the rest of us had it for quite a while before we knew it.

Take heart. There is much hope!

Welcome to the group AprilBells.
I'll never forget the day that i was told i had this dx.
i have never been so afraid, confused & lost in my life!
do you have an appointment with your dr to go over the x-ray? usually that is the start of other tests to find out just what is going on with your lungs and where you are at.
it saddens me to hear others going thru the fear; my thoughts and prayers are with you as you go thru this time.
(((HUGS))))

You certainly found the right people to learn/vent or just chat with regarding your DX. Pls keep in mind that Emphysema is a long-term process. When DX early, much can be done to prolong lung function.

Meantime have a positive attitude,stay active and co-operate w/your doctor.
Welcome and Good Luck............Theresa


P.S. I was Dx at age 43/44...still here at age 75+

Wow "Whats"

That is encouraging ....32 years and still going.

I wasn't scared when I came here but only because I had the gut feeling and knew my diagnosis before the words were actually
spoken to me. And I was "old" too. LOL

Welcome.

Welcome.

@AprilBells First, welcome. You will find this site useful.

Second, dont panic. There is a long journey between initial diagnosis and determining exactly what variety of disease or diseases you might have, what to do about them, and what treatment works best. There is Emphysema, and then there is Emphysema, and degrees of differences in-between.

Third, you might even consider yourself lucky as it is caught at an early age. I remember when I got my first heart attack, with a DX of emphysema and CHF. My doctor told me youre pretty lucky. Lucky????
I thought he was crazy. 59 and dying? That didnt sound so damn lucky to me. Smile.
But then he explained you have age, time, and rock-solid reasons (aka, motivation) to change your life-style start exercising, watch your diet, quit smoking, start treatments, etc, etc. He was right here I am 70 years old and still ticking. He was right the way I was going I wouldnt have seen 60.

AprilBells, Welcome to our group. I have been out of town, so I stopped here to check on folks.

Seems to me This DS family came thru with some excellent advice for you, and all I can add is make sure you have a good lung doctor and can discuss treatment plans with him.

I am sorry you have this disease, but you are like Gnott, you are lucky to have age on your side. Most of us do not discover we have it until we are so much older, and by then there has been so much damage.

I did not start having SOB until I was about 61. However my doctor at that time said he diagnosed me with copd in 1999, but all he said was I had bronchitis, and to quit smoking. I did not quit smoking, and did not know bronchitis was part of copd. (Honey I learned different in a hurry )

I am 69 now, and I will be 70 the end of this month. I went thru so much hospital stays and infections and finally we got this stabilized and slowed down, about 3 years ago.

It is progressive, but you can slow it down, and at your age, that can last years, if you get the right doctor, and the right treatment ,. I finally did and have not been in the hospital for a long time

I have had infections and bronchitis of course, that comes with the deal, but since I was on a proper meds and had changed my lifestyle,
they would just prescribe me an antibiotic and I would take it at home.

So you have a good chance to nip this in the bud as they say. There are tests to take, and meds to try out, rehab for exercise, a lot of probable things.

I wish you well, and please feel free to ask these wise folks any question or just vent if you have to, or just chat. This is a family type group, so please feel free to come on in and get comfortable.

Hugs
BJ

Welcome to the most giving, loyal, and caring group of people in the world! I really hate to meet "new" people here, I'm glad that you chose us to laugh with you, cry with you, share with you, and when you need it, you have our ears to listen. Not just to hear you, but to truly listen!

See, we all love ya already! (Big grin smiley face) Jim

I know exactly how you feel. I received my initial diagnosis about 6 months ago. Scared me to death. Knocked me speechless. And so forth!! I didn't know much about emphysema. I had a lot of questions. I joined this site and have learned quite a bit. I also have done lots of research. I saw my Pulmonologist for the first time Jan. 5th. She said I also had asthma. Another surprise to cope with! She added on another inhaler and after 2 weeks I'm beginning to notice a difference in my breathing. It's improving! The moral of my long winded story is get a referral to a lung specialist if it turns out you have emphysema. They are a big help. Being able to pay for the inhalers is another story! Welcome to the group!
Linda

Get back to us. We'd like to hear how you are April. I wish you the very best of health in the long life you likely have in front of you.
I mean if you think about it, the fact that this was discovered accidentally when they were checking for something else bodes well for you. It means that your breathing isn't so badly affected by your problems as to have sent you to the docs about it.
As they say, quit smoking directly. Ask your doctor about it, and ask for help. If you have any type of infection the suggestion is to do this over the course of a few days to a week. I quit cold turkey right off the hop and it caused me some trouble. Further reading in several places suggested that doing so over a short period of time may have prevented the problems I ran into. Anyways, research, research, research, and ask your doc(s), and also a huge amount of usable information on this site going back a long time and many many pages of archives.
Once again. All the best of luck with your health. I hope the reason you've not been back is because the news was so danged good you didn't feel the need to return.