Keep Fighting

At the rehab class on Tuesday, the head of the program asked me to talk with one of the woman in the education part of the program. We all had to go through the eight-weeks of classes and exercising. Afterwards, many of us chose to continue on the maintenance program. I am in my 7th year of maintenance.

I briefly spoke with the woman who had been diagnosed with COPD and was deeply upset because her doctor just told her she had 22% lung capacity. Right. The woman stand before me, with no supplemental oxygen, was supposed to have 22% lung capacity? Something was clearly wrong. We talk about how she was diagnosed. After one pulmonary function test, no x-ray or CT scan or lung biopsy, the doctor told her she had COPD. She was on prednisone and was gaining weight. He was furious. She had to list all the food she ate in a week, he reviewed it and told her it looked fine but she still gained weight. What doctor's don't know about prednisone and nutrition! She was eating all "good" things including fruit, starchy veggies and yogurt. I told her what I had learned about how we process food differently and the need to eat only non-starchy veggies and lean protein.

She was a smoker who quit cold turkey when she just could not breathe anymore. I encouraged her to be kind to herself, to eat well, to exercise, to sleep well and not beat herself up for smoking. Move forward. She told me she had not eaten since dinner the night before and didn't sleep that night. All the worst things should could be doing for herself. Again, wrong.

What I noticed about his woman was that she was very passive. There was no fire. There was no, "I'll show him!" attitude. Her arms were crossed and I am not sure she was willing to listen to me. I tried to fire her up. I tried to get her to take control. I told her what she would be on a couch needing 10 liters of oxygen if she had 22% lung capacity. She was not even using oxygen at night! So many things wrong. I encouraged her to ask her primary doctor to give her a referral to my university hospital, just thirty-minutes away from her home. I told her they would give her a full run of pulmonary function test, a CT scan and maybe a bronchoscopy. She needed a proper diagnosis.

She said she would follow through. I am not sure. I spoke with the RN later who nodded her head when I mentioned that I felt the woman had fallen into depression. Instead of fighting, she went inward and closed down. What makes one person willing to fight for their life while another throws in their hand of playing cards and waits to die? I guess I am a fighter so I don't understand a person who allows it all to just happened to them with death quickly following.