I’ll never forget the first day I started coming here. I was out in the lobby and Ken came to get me. I asked him where in the building the program was located and he said it was down the hall. I told him ”I can’t walk that far. Can you get me a wheelchair?”, and he did. During the evaluation, he told me “We’ll have you walking up a flight of stairs before long.” That right there change my whole perspective on this program. For the first time in five years, I’m walking around Walmart on my own. I am so grateful for the opportunity to come here. Just today, I rode the stationary bike for 20 minutes straight through without rest. To some people, walking around Walmart is not that big of a deal. But for me, it’s a major accomplishment. I recently had an appointment with my transplant surgeon and I asked him “Do you notice anything different about me?” He said” Yeah, you walked in here on your own.” I attribute all this to pulmonary rehab. I started coming here, I did with they told me to do and that change my life. I only had 43% lung function when I began and I had been on oxygen for seven years and used it at 8 to 12 L per minute. Now, the maximum liter flow I need is only 4 to 6 L per minute and I keep improving. I love the staff here, which consists of Ken, Tanya, Ron and Marty. I thank them daily for the encouragement they’ve given me through all of this. My doctor said that after my transplant, I will need a pulmonary rehab again and I told him that I want to come back to Kindred. Having this lung disease has been an affliction but in some ways it has also been a blessing due to the number of people that I’ve met who have helped me and encouraged me throughout all of this.
Robert Young
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