Pulmo Rehab Progress

I'm happy I was able to attend my pulmo rehab sessions the past 3 weeks. Yay! My therapist usually ramps me up whenever I go MIA because I'm sick. We did the full set today and oh boy, I'm depleted! Haha. I think it was the right level-up since I didn't conk out right after the session. 

I have been feeling heavy since I was rendered useless after our Ikea trip last month. I took awhile to get better, but my back has been painful and I think it's affecting my appendages. I'll probably see my neuro first and have her refer me to a spine doctor. 

I feel the difference though after three pulmo rehab sessions. I'm getting stronger again. I hope we'll be able to start spinning again next week. I'll probably try to use the stationary bike in the next few days to prepare. I just need to make sure I don't overdo things so I can consistently attend my sessions. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Started Pulmo Rehab Masterals

Just started taking my pulmo rehab "masterals", haha. I will just do it once a week now. I started a few days ago. We did the usual breathing and stretching exercises. My physiotherapist, Ronald, cut it down so I would have time to go spinning. 

We originally targeted 10 minutes, but I was already having trouble by the third minute. Ronald adjusted it to five minutes. Since I was tired already we used the extra 5 minutes for me to rest. The session ended with some cool down exercises. 

I signed up for yoga through an app. I was supposed to start this week, but I've been unstable due to the heat. I had to cancel a doctor's appointment because I spent the entire Monday lying down. It's really tricky, I have to do stuff in the kitchen really fast so the heat doesn't bite me (fans aren't enough). 

Oh well, that's just me, I have to be kept at temperatures below 30'C to be stable. :')

#BeKind #StaySafe 

My Pulmo Rehab Journey

My therapists suggested I should blog about my pulmo rehab journey. I'm supposed to complete 16 sessions within two months. It's been a month since I started and I have not met the target. My immune system and stamina hasn't been able to keep up, so there were weeks I was only able to do one session. 

I had done cardiac rehab after heart surgery, rehab for my shoulder, and rehab for my back. Pulmo rehab is the "lightest" kind of rehab I've experienced. Light because it's mostly breathing exercises targeted to expand your lungs. The goal is to strengthen my lungs and save the good parts. The exercises look easy to do, but they wipe me out. 

Three out of the five sessions I've done rendered me useless for the rest of the day, haha. I have four therapists who switch with each other depending on how I did previously. Yesterday, Ronald took charge of my session. He said he used to do cardiac therapy. My other therapists, Jeff and Ameera, popped in during my session to say hello. 

Jeff mentioned that I have a classmate who's just like me. They have to adjust our exercises to match our endurance. I'm glad they did because I was able to function the rest of the day. I even got to do some light gardening. Yaaas!

I reported to my pulmo doctor last week that the handful of sessions I've done have improved my endurance. I fell ill again though with a viral infection and missed a session. I decided to see my doctor because I've been feeling unwell and lethargic. He said I just needed to rest and drink more water. I oftentimes feel guilty when I miss sessions, but it seems common for people like me.

Pushed myself to attend yesterday's session. I wanted to rest more, but I didn't want to fall behind on my sessions. I do some of the exercises everyday. I have to remember though not to overdo things so I can improve steadily. I'm just so far happy that I have more good days now than bad days. 

If your doctor recommends you to do pulmo rehab, do it! I realized I'm 5 years late for it. I should have probably been recommended to do it back in 2018 when I had my first PE. And probably more cardiac rehab after my heart surgery. But, it's never really too late to start. Just keep going! :)

#BeKind #StaySafe