Man works his way off lung transplant list through rehabilitation training alone

Paul Swanson from Waterford is a husband, a father, and an avid traveler, but all of that was put at risk in 2020.

[@jamesrich8463]

Keep up the work and the monitoring your health, very inspiring. With the regular check ups wish you continued success. Hopefully we get an update in the future, perhaps in a year.

[@devangel3614]

Unfortunately you usually don't overcome pulmonary disease once it has advanced. Pulmonary rehab can improve your life and usually triples your exercise capacity, but cannot reverse severe pulmonary disease, only improve quality of life or functional capacity for those being considered for lung transplant. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients are considered for transplant much sooner than other pulmonary diseases as there are few treatments and it can be unpredictable with some people declining rapidly and others surviving many years, thus they can be referred for transplant with a Fev1 of just under 80 percent whereas with most other lung diseases its 20-30 percent. Rehab at higher lung function can get a person on the higher end off of the list. But if you are in the 20-30 percent Fev1 group the improvement is unlikely to make any lasting changes to your need for a transplant. Continued exercise is essential to maintaining your gains in function which declines with age anyway and without maintenance diseased lungs tend to worsen. I hope this man continues to do well and remains one of those with IPF who is slow progressor.

[@marktankersley3618]

Thank you for writing that. I appreciate it. I am at Stage 4 COPD and End Stage Emphysema. 66 years old and a recent assessment for a transplant and did not go well. For the moment, I'm on supplemental o2 24/7 and excercise is all I have to slow the inevitable. Thanks for your honesty and knowledge. There's not much worse than false hope.