TAMC’s Pulmonary Rehab Services Can Help Patients Return to an Active Life

March 13-19 is Pulmonary Rehabilitation Week, a chance to recognize the contributions of health care professionals in this field and to raise awareness about pulmonary disease and its prevention and rehabilitation.

(Above: Karla Whittaker, lead for TAMC’s cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation services, and Thomas Puzewski, supervisor of respiratory care service, are a key part of the team that provide pulmonary rehabilitation services at TAMC)

“Pulmonary rehabilitation is a personalized outpatient treatment program of exercise and education to improve the wellbeing of individuals who have chronic breathing problems,”
explained Karla Whittaker, lead for TAMC’s cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation services.

Lung diseases are some of the most common medical conditions in the world. Tens of millions of people suffer from lung disease in the United States.  While there are a number of pulmonary conditions, with a wide range of prognoses, one condition that is becoming an increasing issue with patients is Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), according to Whittaker.

COPD is a long-term inflammatory lung disease that can cause airflow from the lungs to be obstructed. Symptoms can include coughing that won’t go away, coughing up mucus, and feeling shortness of breath or tightness in your chest.

Donna Dixon of Mars Hill is an example of the difference pulmonary rehab can have in the life of a COPD sufferer.

I had difficulty breathing and had a case of bronchitis that just wouldn’t go away,” she explained. She went to get a physical and her doctor suggested that she get tested for COPD. She was diagnosed with the disease in the summer of 2014 and was put on Spiriva and an inhaler. A short while later, her doctor thought she might benefit from a nebulizer.  Dixon took that to mean she should stop the previous medication and just use the nebulizer.

“I made it worse,” she said. “I got a cold but I ignored it.”

For four months Dixon suffered with that cold, difficulty breathing and being seemingly overtired. She finally went back to see her doctor, who promptly called an ambulance because her blood pressure had dropped to an almost catastrophic level. She was hospitalized for four days. When she left, she was put on three liters of oxygen per day.

(Above: Donna Dixon of Mars Hill, a patient with COPD, exercises on one of the machines in TAMC’s Pulmonary Rehabilitation Unit)

Since coming to TAMC’s Pulmonary Rehab Unit, Dixon has made amazing progress. The first step was education.  They showed me videos about COPD and explained how to take my medication. I didn’t understand any of it until I came to TAMC,” said Dixon.

“She’s one of the strongest people we’ve ever had,” said Thomas Puzewski, supervisor of respiratory care services and the respiratory therapist who worked with Dixon. “She’s relentless. She started with three liters of oxygen when she came here and now she’s virtually off of oxygen.” Puzewski advises that this is not necessarily always the case. “It doesn’t happen that way for everyone.”

“In the past three weeks I have only been on oxygen once during the day,” Dixon exclaimed. “The exercise really helps, I can tell.”  She has learned that with COPD she has to pace herself. She has to slow down. It’s a process, but she says, “I stand straighter and I have a lot more energy. I couldn’t do that before.”

Pulmonary rehabilitation utilizes exercises to aid the patient in increasing activity without shortness of breath, all while being medically supervised. TAMC’s Pulmonary Rehab team consists of doctors, nurses, physical and respiratory therapists, and dieticians all working together to help patients achieve long term goals.

Dixon also has some great things to say about her team of therapists and friends in the Pulmonary Rehab Unit. “They’ve been wonderful, they’ve been so good, and they’ve been very patient with me. I laugh all the time when I’m here and it makes the sessions go so fast. It’s been a really good experience."