Hone* is 54 years old and lives with his wife and extended family.
He was diagnosed early this year with COPD and Bronchiectasis. Hone stopped smoking a number of years ago but was getting frequent chest infections and having difficulty walking around the block due to shortness of breath.
His GP referred him to the Better Breathing programme and he completed the 8-week programme in June 2016, his wife attended most of the sessions with him.
At the end of programme, Hone did 24 sit-to-stand exercises in one minute (the average for someone with COPD is 19) and his wife said he was managing activities much more easily at home.
In October, the Community Respiratory Nurse saw Hone again while helping his Practice Nurse complete an Acute Plan to help with managing his condition. Hone was looking well and is now managing to do 35 to 40 sit-to-stand exercises! He is now walking four times around the block that he used to struggle to get around once.
Hone credits the Better Breathing programme with his improvement in fitness but also the motivational ‘push’ from his wife who understood that he needed to keep up with regular exercise to continue improving and build on the gains from the Better Breathing Programme. He now has more energy for his young grandchildren.
For more information on Canterbury's Better Breathing Programme, visit http://www.healthinfo.org.nz/Rehab.htm.
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*Hone is a real person, but we have changed his name for this story at his request