Vim & Vigor - Winter 2013 - Community Healthcare - (Page 6)

Breathing for Bonnie by ElisE sims Working to prevent COPD Bonnie's fight with COPD ended in July while this issue was still in production. She had hoped to make a difference by telling her story. G riffith resident Bonnie Johnson is running out of time. Only 63 years old, she was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) three years ago. Until then, like many of the other people in her life, she was a smoker. Now she's racing against the clock to get her message out before she can no longer muster up the strength to speak. "At the end of my life, I'll be sitting in a chair, staring at a wall, and my breathing won't be a function anymore, but a job I have to do," she says. " 'Breathe in, Bonnie, breathe out ... breathe in, Bonnie, breathe out'. Who wants to end their life like that? If anybody can stop this from happening to them, it would be a blessing that they wouldn't have to go through it." Understanding the disease COPD is a disease that kills slowly as the lung's airways narrow over time. It takes so much of your life What Is COPD? Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (CoPd) is caused by harmful particles or gas, most commonly from tobacco smoking which triggers an abnormal inflammatory response in the lungs. symptoms include shortness of breath and not being able to do everyday tasks without huffing and puffing. it is the third-leading cause of death in the U.s., according to the american Lung association. in 2007, the economic burden of CoPd in the U.s. was $42.6 billion in healthcare costs and lost productivity. for some, when caught in time, CoPd is preventable and treatable. 6 WINTE R 2 013 Wassim Shwaiki, MD Gaurav Kumar, MD away, Johnson says. "I was a very active person- always busy. That's why it is so difficult to deal with COPD. You literally can't do anything." "When you look at someone with COPD, you don't see it," Johnson says. "You don't hear it in their voice, so it can be hard to relate to and what they are going through. My three sisters are my best friends in the world, and I can't pick up the phone anymore to say I love you and I want to talk to you ... I don't have the breath to say it. "If just one person stops smoking because they don't want to go through the same things I have to suffer day in and day out, it would make me happy." What to do if YoU're diagnosed According to Johnson's pulmonologist, Wassim Shwaiki, MD, on staff at Community Hospital and St. Catherine Hospital, COPD is a progressive, but preventable disease. There are three contributing factors: genetic predisposition, smoking and environmental exposure to toxins. "The main treatment for COPD is to quit smoking," he says. "We can also prescribe inhalers, medications and oxygen to improve the quality of life for our patients. These treatments can decrease the shortness of breath for our patients, but cannot reverse the damage to the lungs. It's very important to quit smoking to prevent further impairment of the lung function."

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Winter 2013 - Community Healthcare

Vim & Vigor - Winter 2013 - Community Healthcare
Contents
Community Message
Community Briefs
Timely Answers, Quality Treatment
Breathing for Bonnie
Powered by Patients
Got Excuses?
Managing Your Health with a DIY Tool Kit
Is It the Stress Talking?
The Wonderful World of Greens
Knee-to-Know Basics
On the Cover
Run for Your Life
14 Good-for-You Gifts
Special Delivery
Virtual Health
SPOTLIGHT ON: Community Hospital
SPOTLIGHT ON: St. Catherine Hospital
SPOTLIGHT ON: St. Mary Medical Center
Getting Babies ‘Back’ to Sleep

Vim & Vigor - Winter 2013 - Community Healthcare