[MotherBear]

Originally Posted by Taffy

My grandmother had the same illness from smoking, but didnt know until it was too late and it had reached a critical stage.

I would go along with that as it's my mother that Taffy is talking about. If I could only show you what it was like for her and how she lost her quality of life being tied to an oxygen cylinder 16 hours a day and not being able to walk very far, I would do so. Then you would have the choice of continuing as you are or doing something about it while you still can. My mother's condition deteriorated because she sometimes forgot to hook up her oxygen or her breathing apparatus came away during the night. This caused her a type of brain damage through lack of oxygen and impaired her memory. Even if it doesn't kill you, and it's a slow death, being continually breathless and unable to do much for yourself is no fun - for you or for those around you. This may sound like a bit of a lecture but if it saves a life......

Have a read through this previous thread . Although it concerns a different health matter, you can see in there that CORD (otherwise known as COAD) is included under 'Exceptions' so you may be lucky if you get in quick enough.

Appendix 10: Medical conditions deemed to impose significant costs and/or demands on New Zealand’s health and/or education services
HIV infection
Hepatitis B surface antigen positive, with abnormal liver function
Hepatitis C, RNA positive, with abnormal liver function
Malignancies of solid organs and haematopoietic tissue, including past history of, or currently under treatment

Exceptions are:
a) treated minor skin malignancies (not melanoma)
b) malignancies where the interval since treatment is such that the probability of cure is > 90%, e.g.: early stage (I & IIA) breast cancer at 5 years; low risk prostate cancer at 5 years; early stage (Dukes A & B1) colorectal cancer at 5 years; childhood leukaemia at 5 years
Solid organ transplants, excluding corneal grafts more than 6 months old
Chronic renal failure or progressive renal disorders
Diseases or disorders such as osteoarthritis with a high probability of arthroplasty in the next four years
Central Nervous System disease, including motor neurone disease, complex partial seizures, poorly controlled epilepsy, prion disease, Alzheimer’s and other dementia, and including paraplegia and quadriplegia
Cardiac disease including ischaemic heart disease, cardiomyopathy or valve disease requiring surgical and/or other procedural intervention
Chronic obstructive respiratory disease with limited exercise tolerance and requiring oxygen
Genetic or congenital disorders: muscular dystrophies, cystic fibrosis, thalassaemia major, sickle cell anaemia if more than one sickle crisis in 4 years, severe haemophilia, and severe primary immunodeficiencies
Severe autoimmune disease, currently being treated with immuno-suppressants other than prednisone
In a person up to the age of 21 years, a severe (71-90 decibels) hearing loss or profound bilateral sensori-neural hearing loss
In a person up to the age of 21 years, a severe vision impairment with visual acuity of 6/36 or beyond after best possible correction, or a loss restricting the field of vision to 15-20 degrees
In a person up to the age of 21 years, a severe physical disability, where they are unable to stand and walk without support, and cannot independently dress, eat, hold a cup, or maintain their stability when sitting.