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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Your Top Ten Questions Answered Here- Replay of the live Zoom Meetup
As I go through the forums and other COPD information groups, people have questions. Lots of questions. Whether newly-diagnosed, or having lived with COPD or ILD for years, there just doesn’t seem to be enough answers for all of the things that go along with lung disease. So, in record time, I answered as…
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,…
Micro-Analyzing the six minute walk
Current standards for performing the Six minute walk test (6mwt) include not walking with the patient, so that they will walk at their own pace rather than attempt to keep pace with the tester. While this may allow a better result, careful observation of the patient before, during, and after the 6mwt, and handoff of…
The Patient that is Used To It
One of the markers we use in Pulmonary Rehab is the Borg scale. We have patients rate their breathing from 0 to 10, and their exercise intensity from 0 to 10. It takes them a few weeks to get used to this, as most of them rate their breathing as either good or bad, and…
You are on the Transplant list…. Now What?
Are you facing having to undergo a lung transplant? The “Good News” that you are on the transplant list may have been a long time coming… or, may have happened so quickly you were surprised. Either way, the events leading up to being on the list are grueling, and scary… so many tests, so many…
When It’s a Different Doctor Every Time You Go to the Clinic
I get asked all the time… “Kelly, I have no insurance. So every time I go to the clinic, I get seen by a different doctor. They have my chart, but I have to start all over every time I go. You say to ask my doctor about this and that, but I have no…
Are You Using Your Oxygen Correctly?
Are you using your oxygen correctly? Most patients don’t! The only way to tell if you need oxygen, and when, is to do the proper tests. A six- minute walking test, done by your R.T., will tell you if you need oxygen with exercise, or at rest. An overnight sleep study will tell you…
Dear Doctor, You asked me to do this!
I continually tell this same joke: Patient: “Doctor, what’s the best exercise for me?” Doctor: “One that you will actually do” In my live Pulmonary Rehab classes, we do the “Big 4” exercises: treadmill, bike, arm bike, and weights. I have people who like all but the treadmill, and others who will do anything to…
Survey Results are In – Individual impact of COPD and ILD on activity choices
In February 2016, I sent out a survey to determine how different lung diseases affect daily activities. Thank you to all 62 of you who participated! Here is what I learned: The majority of you have 1-2 doctor appointments per month. <10% of you have 3-4 doctor appointments per month. No one had more than…