DX with COPD, what can I expect?

Answer 1

If you are a smoker and continue to smoke. expect to die a terrible painful death with slow suffocation.
If you have quit smoking, your lungs will have some time to heal and you will not get worse unless you get pneumonia or some other type lung infection.

Answer 2

You will never totally recover..

COPD drugs and exercise can make you a little more active
The better your physical shape, the easier it is to breath.

The first year after you quit smoking won't be a picinic