Shelley Rowe lives with emphysema — a lung disease that can make day-to-day life challenging.
“I live at times struggling to breathe,” said the Kelowna woman. “It’s like someone sits on my chest and I’m gasping at times to get the air in.”
Rowe, 62, was diagnosed with the disease 12 years ago.
Two years ago, it nearly claimed her life.
“I was on life support in the ICU for two weeks and they did not think I would make it,” she said.
“Miraculously, thank goodness, I did make it and I thought I’ve got to make some changes.”
Rowe learned about a program called the pulmonary rehab program.
It’s operated by the Interior Health Authority (IHA).
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The program isn’t new. It’s been around for about 15 years, but for most of that time it has operated out of Kelowna General Hospital.
“The wait list was so long, people were waiting up to a year to get this treatment,” Kirschner said.
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But two years ago, IHA partnered with a number of gyms across the Central Okanagan to help run the program out of those sites.
“We are actually putting through, with all the gyms, 120 people every 10 weeks,” Kirschner said. “And this just keeps growing and our wait list keeps expanding, but that’s OK; we need to really help people with lung disease.”
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A big part of the program centres around exercise and body strengthening to help better manage lung disease.
“The rehab has taught me how to strengthen all my body muscles, so I’m using them to compensate for my lungs,” Rowe said.
When she started the program, she could only do three minutes of cardio. But two years later, she can do a lot more.
“Now half an hour and then I just go to the next machine. Life is totally different,” she said.
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Rowe credits the program with saving her life. It even led her to quit smoking once and for all.
“It totally saved my life. If it wasn’t for rehab, I probably would still be smoking. I would be sitting on a couch, my breathing would get worse and worse,” she said. “I would probably be dead.”
Anyone interested in the program can contact IHA.
A doctor’s referral is needed to get onto the program.
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