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I am in a tough situation I have been struggling with my health for a while and was diagnosed with copd stage 3 in November. Due to not being able to work and applying for SSDI I had to move back in with my mom and stepfather. I have since been approved for SSDI and I am working on housing. The issue is my stepfather implies I am faking it and I should just do more. I struggle with my energy and often find myself randomly falling asleep when it isn’t intended. I am really struggling on how to… read more

February 25
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A MyCOPDTeam Member

Rich, I've been through a similar situation and it's extremely difficult. I hope your situation improves. I actually pray for the one that treats me badly. Concentrate on yourself and try to overlook the other. Stress is not good. Try to stay calm and stay away from him as much as possible.

February 26
A MyCOPDTeam Member

Hi, @A MyCOPDTeam Member, it could be that as long as you're staying there, his opinion won't change. I can understand that this puts you between a rock and a hard place, until you can get more private accomodations. . You can keep your mom updated, one on one, and let her share whatever she wants with her husband. That means you don't have to discuss this with him, especially if it's adding more stress to an already difficult situation. You can continue to be respectful toward him; you are living in his home. But you also get to show yourself some respect. It goes both ways. I am so sorry you're having to deal with something that you did nothing to cause, especially if you're alpha-1. ❤️

February 26
A MyCOPDTeam Member

Maybe he is not smart enough to understand what is going on.? Maybe he is afraid to understand or doesn't know how to deal with it . Or it could be that he doesn't know how to help you with this . It could be that he needs to understand how or what to do

February 26
A MyCOPDTeam Member

Thank you. I know he does really care and they (him and my mom) wouldn’t have invited me in if they both didn’t care. I don’t know the full history but I know he struggled with his first wife passing the long road she went through. So I believe he is reliving something in his head when he sees me not doing well and it comes out in rude ways. He is a nice guy and he isn’t doing anything beyond snide comments from time to time especially when my body makes me take an impromptu nap. Thanks for the space to at least vent.

February 25
A MyCOPDTeam Member

In time you will find a way to explain it to him that he will understand. But since the Battle is inside your lungs he can't feel or down the strain it puts on our bodies. I find inviting them to read some posts in some of the COPD sites will give them a little better understanding of what we deal with. It is exhausting to struggle to breathe.
I give them 4 coffee stir straws and tell them to breathe through that and go up a flight of stairs. It dose wake them up a little bit.
Feel free to vent here. It gets hard sometimes, we are all in this together.
Breathe Ez......

February 26

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