Breathe Out

If your doctor has recently given you a diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or emphysema, he probably explained the diagnosis and gave you some written information. You may have been referred to a pulmonary rehabilitation program. Both are worthwhile. But for many, the written information, usually a pamphlet provided by a drug company or the American Lung Association, is not enough. The same people may find that a pulmonary rehabilitation program is too much. It is time consuming, as much as three afternoons a week for twelve weeks. It s expensive, and insurance won’t pay even part of the bill unless the disease is advanced enough.

This is a third alternative.

There is too much important information to be contained in a pamphlet. You deserve to learn how to minimize symptoms, even if at the time of diagnosis the symptoms are mild.

You need to learn how to avoid complications. It is those complications that can cause the disease to worsen and the symptoms to become severe.

It also helps to learn how to build your exercise tolerance and to keep it at the highest level possible. pulmonary rehabilitation programs are made for this. They put you on exercise equipment, monitoring your body’s response as you improve.

Attending one of these programs is a great idea but not a necessity. You can accomplish the same thing on your own.

If you picked up this book because your doctor said you have “smoker’s lung,” you probably know in your heart that there is no such disease. Some doctors hesitate to label your condition as emphysema or COPD because they think they have nothing to offer you. Your doctor may think you don’t need the black cloud of a diagnosis hanging over your head any longer than necessary.

With this book, and at least one new medication, your doctor now has something to offer.

That being said, if you have symptoms of shortness of breath or chronic cough, and have diagnosed yourself with “smoker’s lung,” you should get an official diagnosis. There are other conditions that cause the same symptoms. Why waste your time learning how to live with lung problems when you really have heart problems, for example? Plus, you may be delaying treatment for those other problems.

Since the subject of smoking has come up, of course you should quit. I doubt this is new information. But you don’t have to be a nonsmoker to use this book. You have just as much right to health information as anyone else. Sometimes people who know they have caused their own illness by smoking feel so guilty about it that they don’t think they deserve help. You do.

You might want to know that you are not alone. Smoking is not the only bad habit out there, and lung trouble is not the only result. At any given time, more than half the patients in the hospital are there because of their own bad habits or bad decisions. Some people overeat and end up with diabetes. Some drive recklessly and have car accidents. I don’t know too many perfect people, so if you are not perfect either, read on anyway.