March 14-20 is Pulmonary Rehabilitation Week. Some might say pulmonary rehabilitation has played second fiddle to its sister service – cardiac rehabilitation – at Phelps Memorial. With heart disease as the leading cause of death in the U.S. for 80 plus years, it’s easy to see why.
Enter 2020… and it’s a whole new ballgame. A global viral pandemic brings along a new monster – COVID-19 – and suddenly, impaired lung function is an issue that the general public is becoming intimately familiar with.
In December 2020, Phelps Memorial’s exercise physiologist Laramey Becker began working with colleagues from some of Nebraska’s top medical facilities to develop a pulmonary rehab program specifically for people struggling to recover from COVID-19. So far, Becker has treated patients ranging from age 13 to some in their mid-60s.
“Each patient has different needs, but ultimately the goal is to teach patients the techniques they can use to get back to their activities of daily living,” Becker said.
Patients who have found success in the post COVID-19 rehab program generally begin treatment struggling with issues such as shortness of breath, racing or irregular heartbeats, new needs for oxygen supplementation, chest pain, fatigue, and the inability to complete basic functions such as washing dishes, doing laundry, climbing stairs, etc.
“Often these patients recover from COVID-19 but are weakened either from a hospital stay or just from the virus, and they need closer monitoring as they recover,” Becker said. “We’re monitoring their lung function, but also checking their blood pressures, heart rates, doing EKGs, checking blood sugars, and really just keeping an eye on the big picture during their rehab process. We’re working as one big medical team, reporting progress to patients’ providers and sometimes involving our RN certified diabetic educator Jenny to help patients get their blood sugar levels back to normal. Our patients have a peace of mind knowing they’re being watched over a little more closely, as they work back into their normal daily lives again.”
The post COVID-19 pulmonary rehab program at Phelps Memorial has room for more patients to join, and patients should be referred by their physician to the program to receive a customized plan of care.
