I have a degree in health and corrective physical education and have always done some form of exercise almost daily. When I was young it was all about that flat belly and sculpted arms and legs. As I got older it was about trying to remain flexible and mobile. I can remember older people talking about people who were “bedfast” and proposing the importance of “keeping your legs.”  These sayings resonated even more once I was diagnosed with COPD after my first lung collapse.

I was asked to help evaluate virtual pulmonary rehabilitation and signed up with two companies. With one group we also were assigned a health coach. I did not realize how much I would benefit from these programs. First, I found that some of my exercise techniques were not correct. I am not sure if the technique has evolved, or if I have just plain been doing them wrong all of my life.  At any rate, the way I am performing these exercises now is much more effective.

The health coaching part of the plan has been extremely valuable. It is amazing how much just talking with someone who is tuned into your situation can help. I have realized that I had quit doing some of the things that were beneficial to my health. We can get things mixed up in our heads and the health coach can help us sort things out much as our rem sleep does for our brains.

This has nothing to do with the topic except sleep patterns, but I dreamed that my hair was vinyl siding, and that one side was on crooked. This was no doubt brought about by the fact that I had to have the vinyl siding people come back and fix something that they had done incorrectly. This was no doubt my brain putting the incident into the right file folders.

Back to the topic. I have gained so much from the pulmonary rehabilitation that I no longer have those terrible days of total exhaustion. I have waited for over a month to post this, because those days came about monthly or more often. I have learned to be better in tune with myself to better head off exacerbations.

I have never attended pulmonary rehabilitation in person, but if it is any better then it truly is a miracle. I remember reading that exercise is the closest thing to a miracle drug that we have. Pulmonary rehabilitation brings us exercise and so much more.

GO TO PULMONARY REHABILITATION IF YOU GET A CHANCE!!!