Dr Banks talks about oxygen

Dr Banks came to our last meeting on Friday 20th February and talked at length about oxygen. We all learned so much about how we should be using our oxygen. LTOT (long term oxygen therapy) is, surprisingly enough what it says. For people needing this, the more hours a day they can breathe in oxygen (at least 15 hours), the more benefit they will get. Ambulatory oxygen is, again, surprisingly exactly what it says. It must be breathed while you are active and on your feet - it's no good having a puff to recover once you have got breathless.
It's good to have this reinforced, and thank you Dr Banks for doing so.

Chris Mulholland, head of British Lung Foundation Wales was there as well and she talked to us about the work of BLF Wales, which leads me into our abseil event in April. Please support us and BLF Wales by going to the link to our justgiving appeal at the bottom of this page Thank you !

Abseil at Dinas Rock on 26th April 2009 - a charity event

The abseil will be run by Call of The Wild, a professional company, based locally in Seven Sisters, who have plenty of experience running these events. They are winners of the Welsh Tourist Board Team Building Company of the Year. They are generously giving their time and expertise free of charge which is a huge boost to our fundraising - our grateful thanks to them. They can be found at
www.corporate-training-events.co.uk tel 01639 700388

In our first year we raised just over £6,000. Last year we raised just over £7,000. What dizzy heights should we aim for this year ? the sky's the limit !
So far we have bought a spirometer and flutter devices for our local respiratory team at Cimla Hospital. With this and other money raised BLF Wales has been able to fund the first BLF nurse in Wales, start up BLF Active, an exercise programme to keep us fit and help us live longer and easier lives. BLF Wales also funds vital research into lung health such as the vital work going on in Swansea. See the link to Swansea Bay Breathe Easy - why not go along to the meeting in March to learn more about this exciting project ?
What are you waiting for ? Email me to get your entry form and join us for a great experience, a fun day out and help raise vital funds for local people living with lung conditions. Or check out our justgiving page at the bottom of this page and donate online.

A talk about being energy efficient

At our latest meeting on 16th January, Gareth Miles from NPower gave us quite a few useful tips about how switching off, using energy efficient light bulbs, draught proofing and insulating can save us pounds - maybe not enough for a trip abroad but certainly enough for a meal out or a day trip, so well worth taking the trouble.

British Lung Foundation Wales Annual Conference 2008

Five of our group were at the British Lung Foundation Conference, held yesterday, November 11th, in the Brangwyn Hall, Swansea. I always enjoy these gatherings, meeting people from other groups and making new friends. I was particularly happy to see Flo. who I met last summer in Aberaeron at the Welsh Cob Festival. We came face to face sporting our cannula's and said "Snap!" She told me she felt she was a long way from any Breathe Easy Group and felt very isolated out there in Pembrokeshire. And now she tells me she will be one of the founder members of a brand new group. Well done Flo, may your group flourish.

We started the day with a two minutes silence followed by various talks and discussions. Chris Mulholland, Head of BLF Wales, gave us an overview of the work done over the previous year and the aims for the coming year. The big project is the BLF Active Programme, aiming to get trained people to run exercise programmes accross Wales, available to all with lung conditions.

Then Dr Emrys Evans, Chairman of BLF Wales, talked to us about the benefits of exercise, improving muscle tone, feelgood factor, and the important fact that everyone can exercise, they just have to find their own level.

After that we split into two groups for workshops on getting the best from your doctor, Dr Noemi Eiser, Medical Director BLF, and your pharmacist, Andrew Evans, Pharmaceutical Adviser to Cardiff LHB. Always be prepared with questions you want the answer to and ask for written information to take away with you - they should all have the relevant BLF leaflet to hand. Use the medicines review offered by many pharmacies now. It's a new service which checks that we have the right medication - worth checking if you have been taking the same stuff for years. There may be something much better out there to try.

At lunch time we had a chance to mingle and chat and to see the exhibitions ranging from Pensions to Air Products and many things in between.

In the afternoon Dame Helena Shovelton, Chief Executive of the British Lung Foundation talked about the need to continue raising money to fund the work of the charity - research grants, BLF nurses, Get Active programme, publishing information pamphlets, - I could go on for ever, so if any philanthropists are reading this blog, donations will be welcome at BLF Wales.

At the end of the day we had presentations and, as you can see, our group did rather well and I was thrilled to receive a personal award - many thanks to the group for nominating me and thanks to BLF Wales for these awards.

Cough your way to an Oscar

We had a lot of fun at BBC Wales in Cardiff yesterday. Doug and Margaret joined June from Cardiff and Shan Evans from British Lung Foundation Wales to help make a recording for BBC Radio Wales to encourage people with a cough to go and see their doctor to get checked out properly and treated if necessary. It's not so easy to cough on demand so a fair bit of giggling went on too. Thanks to Eiry Thomas, (Casualty, Torchwood, Under Milkwood etc) who did the voice, for supporting BLF Wales in their work.
So, from Sunday 2nd November, after the 9.00am news, and from then on throughout the week, listen out for the coughs on BBC Radio Wales.

October Meeting

We had a good attendance this month and received a lot of useful information from Karen Williams from Care and Repair in Neath Port Talbot area. What a good service they offer to the more vulnerable people in our society. It's good to know that they have lists of workmen who can be trusted. It is difficult, unless you have the benefit of "word of mouth" recommendations, to know who to trust, and so easy to make a mistake. She brought us a gift each of an emergency light, a cosy fleece blanket, pen and lots of information about the services offered.
Care and Repair can be contacted on 01792 321122

Day out at St Fagans

What a lovely day we had, the sun shone showing the museum off at it's best. Some of us rode on the golf cart and benefitted from an interesting commentary and fountain of knowledge from the driver. The rest of us walked or rode our scooters. We explored the old shops, pottery, forge, Celtic Village, farm, castle, gardens and all the other varied attractions that are there.