By Denise Williams | News & Views
R. Craig Wiederkehr, age 74, recently graduated from pulmonary rehabilitation – for the second time in his life. The first was about 10 years ago, when it became clear he couldn’t outrun the ill effects of cigarette use. The retired steel distributor started smoking as a preteen; and by the time he finally quit at age 40, he admits “the damage was done.” An eventual COPD diagnosis introduced him to pulmonary rehab, which he describes as a “life-changing” experience. He completed his prescription, walking out the program doors with a new lease on life and an extended family of caretakers who helped him with the deposit.
“They made such a difference in my life,” Craig says. “I just never forget them.” He kept in touch with the PR staff at UC San Diego Health over the past 10 years, sending flowers at Easter and Christmas and popping in periodically to say “hello” and reiterate his gratitude for all they’d done for him.
His most recent visits to the facility, however, haven’t been socially driven. The impromptu drop-ins had actually stopped altogether, after back problems left Craig confined to bed for the better part of a year. A bulging disc was pressed against his spinal cord, causing two fractures in a delicate space that impaired his ability to breathe. Although no one ever wants a reason to need rehab – and he actually had TWO, thanks to a simultaneous diagnosis of congestive heart failure – Craig welcomed the directive to undergo a new round of therapy. Due to his experience 10 years earlier, he says he already knew the value of the services he was about to receive in pulmonary rehab. It felt, as he frames it, “like going home.”
The staff at UCSD didn’t disappoint, Craig reports. After being restricted to bed for 8 months and wheelchair-bound for months after that before graduating to a walker, he remembers not being able to go 10 feet without struggling to catch his breath. He’s pleased to be getting around on his own fairly well now. Actually, the word he uses is “waddle,” showing that he’s maintained a sense of humor despite medical hardships. Having a team in his corner who was always “up” and ready to help, with a smile always in place, helped with his own mood and motivation, he admits.
Under the supervision and care of the UCSD team, Craig says he accomplished his two primary objectives: improving lung function and building up stamina. He’s now walking farther, and at a faster pace, without getting breathless. Workouts on the recumbent bike and arm bike have upped his stamina. With each session, he noticed less pain in his back, legs and hips. Meanwhile, the breathing exercises and techniques the PR staff have taught him have become second nature, and he’s learned to slow down when his body tells him to, instead of stubbornly trying to push on. Combined, these different components of pulmonary rehab have helped to gradually raise Craig’s oxygen saturation levels. Numbers that were routinely in the 80s now range between 94 and 98.
Pulmonary rehab has done wonders for him, Craig attests, emphasizing that his second round only validated the benefits he received the first time. “You never know how good you can feel again if you don’t take this journey!” he advises anyone who hesitates for one second to get the rehab they’ve been prescribed. “It’s amazing and will change your life for the better.”