Tuesday, 31. December 2019

Do you want to come to the Christmas market with us? Part 4

Do you want to come to the Christmas market with us? For most of us, this is a harmless, innocuous question. But for people with chronic respiratory conditions, this question is not always easy to answer. We asked four lung patients this question anyway. Here are their answers.

Doris Wohlfahrt, 51 years old, soon-to-be pensioner, stage 4 COPD

"I love Christmas and I love Christmas markets, so I go to Christmas markets at least three times during the holiday season. Every year on Christmas Eve I especially enjoy going to the Christmas market in Nuremberg. I don’t want my disease to take this from me, even though just getting there is hard for me. Most markets take place in the city centres where cars are not allowed. My COPD makes it hard for me to go long distances on foot, so my husband drops me off near the market and then goes by himself to look for a parking spot. So I can save my strength for walking around the market and not use up my energy on getting there. Even so, I still need to take several breaks while walking around the market. But there are so many lovely booths to look at, one always has a good excuse to stop and rest. I don’t worry about catching a cold. You can catch a cold anywhere. You would have to lock yourself in the house and this would have a big impact on quality of life."

Doris’s tips:

Relax and don’t let your COPD drive you mad. Go to Christmas markets if this makes you happy. Find solutions for supposed problems, e.g. take a taxi if you aren’t able to get there on foot.
It’s better to go to Christmas markets in cities from Monday to Wednesday or to go to smaller markets in the country because the markets aren’t so crowded then.
Don’t drink mulled wine, drink alcohol-free kid’s punch instead. Alcohol can have a negative effect on respiration and oxygen saturation.

Also read:

Note: The statements made in the interview are the individual views of the interviewee. They do not necessarily reflect the PARI view or the general state of science.

An article written by the PARI BLOG editorial team.

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