Living life to the fullest with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Imagine if one day, you suddenly woke up and couldn't breathe. If the simple act of sitting and then standing up again caused you to experience a life threatening shortness of breath.

That's what Calvin Young's life was like when he got diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which affects the lungs. 

Having been a smoker for several years, Young said he woke up one morning to attend a meeting, when he "took a big breath of air and couldn't breathe."

A few days later, Young woke up in the hospital diagnosed with pneumonia, but when the symptoms continued to get worse, doctors discovered Young had COPD.

Nov. 15, 2017 is World COPD Day and according to Dr. Birubi Biman, a respirologist and director of the COPD rehab clinic at St.Joseph's Care Group in Thunder Bay, Ont., nearly 10 to 12 per cent of people over the age of 60 have the disease, but only half of them are diagnosed.

"COPD is something that is under-appreciated," she said, which means over half of the individuals who experience symptoms such as shortness of breath and tightness in the chest are either undiagnosed, or unaware they have the disease.

"Having been retired or recently retired or less active, they attribute the shortness of breath to in fact, aging or a normal physiologic process," Dr. Biman explained, but she said, like an iceberg, much of the problem is hidden.

She attributes smoke inhalation, recreational smoking, occupational exposure as well as genetics as factors that could increase an individual's chance of developing COPD.

For Young, after being diagnosed with COPD, he was forced to be home-bound, carrying an oxygen tank, with limited physical activity.

"[In] about a year and a half ... I went from 180 to almost 300 pounds," Young recalled, and "because I couldn't breath, I couldn't exercise."

Life was certainly not looking good for Young, as he spent most of his days at home just eating and trying to breath.

Soon after, Young was introduced to Shelly Prevost, a respiratory therapist for the Pulmonary Rehab Program at St.Joseph's Care Group. 

Prevost said COPD can be manageable and patients can still enjoy life to the fullest by combining "new knowledge and skills and also exercise."

"One of the most important exercises we do is sit to stand, so sitting in a chair and standing up," Prevost explained, "it's a functional movement."

She said learning functional movements for patients with COPD allows them to stay home, regain their independence and adjust to their new lifestyle.

"The whole goal of pulmonary rehab is, if we can share the knowledge and teach the skills for people to use on a day to day basis, they can lead a really good life even though they have COPD," Prevost said.

Since rehab, Young has lost weight and will soon be getting ready to move to Toronto be on the wait-list for a double lung transplant.

This year for World COPD Day, Dr. Biman said the message is clear and simple: avoidance. She said anyone who is experiencing reoccurring episodes of bronchitis or shortness of breath should seek medical help, as a simple spirometry test will help determine if an individual has COPD.