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Dealing With Sudden Episodes of Shortness of Breath

If you have COPD, you are well aware of triggers that can cause difficult breathing, or shortness of breath. Some people describe the scary  feeling as: they can’t get enough air, or their chest feels tight. It is important to figure out the things that trigger this short breathing, but sometimes it just seems to…


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How Not to Feel Isolated and Lonely with COPD

My patient tells me she feels depressed. She used to go to lunch with all her friends on Wednesdays, but now she just tells them to go on without her. “Why?”, I asked . “I don’t like to hold them up. I walk so slow now!  They say they don’t mind but I feel like…


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Proper Inhaler and Spacer Usage for Kids


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My Inhalers are All Empty!

This is one of my favorite (not!) answers when I ask one of my patients why they come to class wheezing and barely able to breathe. I have to pause before I figure out how to tactfully ask the question: You know you need your inhalers, so, how could you not know you were running…


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Back by Popular Demand! The “10 Things” E book

What passes for food in the U.S.  has become scarier than ever. Finding healthy, chemical- and additive-free food is becoming quite the challenge! I had breakfast last weekend with friends at a local breakfast joint. The ‘cream’ for the coffee was a bowl of individual creamers, some flavored, the others labeled ‘half and half’. Yep,…


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Your Course Is Written! Now What??!?

Now, do your storyboard. I do mine in PowerPoint. For CXR’s for example, I would start with what a normal one looks like. Then go into some classic ones such as pneumonia, emphysema, fibrosis, and


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Let the Respiratory Season Begin!

~Sigh. You just got a message that Mr. Jones is back in the hospital. Again. You just saw him last week! He looked fine…. no complaints. He hasn’t smoked now in 5 years. He tries to exercise, but gets tired quickly. You did a quick 02 test on him in the hallways, and he doesn’t…


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Dear Doctor: This site can help you

Dear Doctor, ~Sigh…. You just got a message that Mr. Jones is back in the hospital. Again. You just saw him last week! He looked fine…. no complaints. Hasn’t smoked now in 5 years. He tries to exercise, but gets tired quickly. You did a quick 02 test on him in the hallways, and he…


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When You’re Considering Moving in With Family

  “My daughter and son-in-law want me to move in with them, but I don’t want to.” If you have a chronic disease process, or even a temporary (but debilitating) one, it’s wise not to live alone. Barring the fact that they might be smokers, think about why you would not want to do this….


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YOU, v. 2.0

Have you ever thought about what the next version of you would look like? Many of us just go along with the way we are, adding aging, food choices,  and other unhealthy habits into the factors that make us what we are today. My yoga teacher does this one move– one I have been working…


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