MESSAGE TO ALL WHO VISIT THIS WEBSITE

Dear Friends,

Sadly and suddenly, John Kirtley who created and ran these Breathless websites, died peacefully in his sleep on the 10th of June. He was buried and received a private woodland funeral nearby.  As his wife, I have become the owner of the various sites he created. We are advised that they are valuable to patients and a great international memorial to a very brave man. Together with my daughter Camilla, we have decided to ask John's close friends David and Terry if they will continue to run them. (Details below) Please accept our apologies for the delay in posting this announcement, but it has taken us much longer than expected to gain access and arrange for its insertion.

To all of you who have used the sites or have corresponded with John, please accept my sincere thanks. The letters you have written and questions you have asked were the things that kept him going long after the medics had predicted. They were a lifeline for him and maybe also in return, for some of you. Although it will be hard to match John's wide experience, David and Terry are both very knowledgeable COPD patients. When you get to know them you will realise that they have the same motivation to help fellow sufferers as did John. They await your wisdom and your questions. 

Yours in friendship, Joan Kirtley

Messages from David and Terry

Dear Friends of John and all who use his Websites,

Please note that we are entirely free from any commercial interests.

I am David Boswell and live in Dorset. I am a retired microelectronics engineer and now a free-lance journalist. As a lifelong asthmatic my COPD is rated as severe. I will be attempting to look after the management and administration of the site itself and dealing with most of the general issues other than emphysema, i.e., I will cover all asthma, bronchitis and related pulmonary subjects. John has already published articles by me in the website so some of you may already know my darkest secrets. I hope, over the coming months, to get to know as many of you as possible. For the time being I ask that all correspondence relating to any of the websites should be e-mailed to me at Boscon@metronet.co.uk. Also for the time being I will forward Terry's mail to him within 24 hours of receipt and organise the posting on site of your various points, letters and advice. We will both reply direct to you where appropriate. The wording of contact data in the sites had needed to be changed. This has been done.

Personal letters to Joan may still be sent to John's existing e-mail address, but please appreciate that she is not in a position to deal with any matters connected with the websites. We will attempt to answer any e-mails addressed to John at his own address during June and up to 30th July.

My name is Terry Mackay I am 67 years old, a retired police officer and I live with my wife in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. I have chronic emphysema. I am currently on 2lt. of oxygen per minute for between 12 and 20 hrs per day. I will be more than happy to hear from anyone and I will do my best to answer an questions or help with any problems. We had a saying in the police force, "If I don't know the  answer, then I will find someone who does". I am about to go into hospital to have a cataract removed (not one of my 'must do' things before I die) but it will be one more thing I will be able to answer any questions about! My general role will be to deal with matters related to emphysema, oxygen issues, and I have a good working knowledge regarding claiming Disabled Living Allowance.

Best wishes to you all, David and Terry

NOTE. John's biographical notes have been moved to the memorial page

THIS PAGE WILL NOW INTRODUCE COPD.

SOME LINKS MAY BE BROKEN (FOR NOW) THEREFORE PLEASE CLICK ON A PAGE ABOVE THAT INTERESTS YOU.

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WELCOME TO ALL READERS

This site is primarily for patients and especially for those suffering from chronic Emphysema, Asthma or Bronchitis, now known as COPD

WHAT DOES COPD MEAN?

Well it stands for Chronic (that means it progresses slowly) Obstructive (that means it causes narrowing of the airways in your lungs making it more difficult to breathe) Pulmonary (that means a disease of the lungs) Disease(obvious!). Hence "COPD"!

So does COPD cover just emphysema? Unfortunately no – COPD also covers chronic bronchitis, asthmatic bronchitis and other airways diseases. But it does not cover lung cancer.

· COPD kills 30,000 people a year in England and Wales . It is the 5th biggest killer in the UK and the 5th biggest killer worldwide  

· COPD is the only major cause of death whose incidence is on the increase

· There are an estimated 3 million people with COPD in the UK  , although only an estimated 900,000 are correctly diagnosed .

· In the UK, the rate of COPD has been increasing nearly three times faster amongst women than men

· COPD kills around 12,000 UK women every year [vii]

According to a new study, many people with emphysema, asthma and bronchitis continue to smoke despite the risks.
      Smoking plays a huge role in chronic lung disease and is the major cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Clearly, quitting smoking is a key part of managing this disabling condition. But this message is not being acted upon, according to a new study from the Centers (USA) for Disease Control and Prevention.  

They surveyed over 11,000 patients and found that more than 36 per cent are current smokers, compared to 22 per cent of the general population.  Around half of the COPD patients had tried to quit smoking and 14.6 of them succeeded - mostly without any help. Of the smokers with COPD, around a quarter said that they had not received any advice on smoking cessation. Given that counselling and medication can help people quit smoking, far more should be done to offer this support to people with COPD.

Source
American Journal of Health Promotion July 2006

If you are reading this you will probably have already been diagnosed with COPD or have been told for example that you have emphysema or frequent asthma.

If you wish, you can go now to the Memorial page (see at top of this page) and read John's account of his life and emphysema problems. He was the founder of the site and expresses himself as such. Also on that page we show tributes to John from those who have benefited from this website.