Cathy Gavin lives in Northern Ireland with interstitial lung disease and PAH. It took her a long time to accept oxygen therapy, but she now embraces its benefits and is keen to help others. These are her words.

“I was formally diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension in March 2024, but it was first suspected by doctors the previous year. My symptoms of cough, and breathlessness on inclines and stairs, started in October 2021. I started ambulatory oxygen therapy in December 2023, before any formal diagnosis, and I am now prescribed eight litres per minute (lpm). I use it for walking, certain types of housework, and when I’m generally being active – so usually for two to three hours a day.

I really struggled with the idea of having to go onto oxygen at the age of 51. It was particularly difficult as in 2022, I lost my mum, who passed away within months of starting oxygen.

It took me months to accept the oxygen and, in fact, for a long time I didn’t use it as prescribed. You can hide other treatments, such as an IV pump in a bag or under a dress, or go somewhere private each time you need a nebuliser – but there’s no way of hiding a cannula on your face. Where I live, it is quite rare to see someone walking around with oxygen on and I was conscious of it. I felt everyone was looking at me, although maybe I just imagined that!

Part of the reason I didn’t use it at first was because I was on a much lower prescription than I should have been, so I couldn’t really notice a difference, or feel the benefit. It just didn’t feel worth it when I disliked it so much. It was only when I was diagnosed with an interstitial lung disease (ILD), three months after the PAH diagnosis, that I was able to see the ILD specialist nurses. They increased the prescription and that was the turning point for me. I also moved from cylinders to liquid oxygen, which was a game-changer in terms of how much I could get out and about.

I am now able to see the benefit of using oxygen (as a patient), which, along with the medication, enables me to do so much more. People are prescribed ambulatory oxygen to help them have a better quality of life, and be more independent, and that’s what it’s done for me.

I have had to learn to pace myself on it –  life can no longer be a rush, but it is still a full life, and it hasn’t stopped my husband and I enjoying travels abroad.  We are able to do so much more together, such as walking, DIY, and gardening, thanks to my oxygen therapy.

Being on oxygen has enabled me to take control of my health in other ways, and in December 2025 I started working with a personal trainer at my local gym to help me lose weight, feel better, and improve my functional strength. I wear my oxygen during the sessions, and my trainer always keeps me talking through the exercise, as if you can hold a conversation you know you are exercising safely. I’ve become stronger and more independent again.

On paper, with my health conditions, I should probably be sitting at home in black and white. But I’m able to live my life in colour, and I am always posting pictures of myself out and about with oxygen on my Facebook page – because I’m less self-conscious of it and I want to celebrate what I can do, rather than focus on what I can’t.  I also see this as an opportunity to promote oxygen therapy benefits, and how it is used to improve quality of life; much like other mobility aids, which no-one blinks an eye at.

When I had a concentrator I called it Connie, and I now call my liquid flask my ‘jetpack’ because it helps me do so much. It weighs 9lb when it’s full, so it’s heavy to carry, but my trainer at the gym has been helping me build strength in my shoulders, back, and arms, and that makes it easier.

My advice for someone struggling with the idea of going onto oxygen is to see it as a tool to help you do more. See it as a medicine, because that’s what it is – a prescribed medicine. Don’t be afraid to speak up if you think the amount you’ve been prescribed isn’t right for you, and be clear with your medical team about what you need to use it for. I now view my oxygen therapy as being part of me, and I’d love to see it normalised more.”