One question I hear surprisingly often from people with lung disease is this: “Why do I get so short of breath when I’m walking and talking at the same time?” If you’ve noticed this happening to you, you’re definitely not imagining it. Talking and walking both require coordination with breathing. When we speak, we naturally use air from the lungs to form words , and that slightly changes the breathing pattern. Normally our bodies handle this automatically without us noticing.

One of the most common things I hear from people with lung disease is some version of this: “I get short of breath… and then I panic.” This is completely understandable. When breathing suddenly feels difficult, the body interprets it as a threat. Your brain essentially says something is wrong — do something fast . The heart rate goes up, breathing gets quicker, and anxiety joins the party. Unfortunately, that reaction can actually make breathing feel even harder. In Pulmonary

I’m not sure how I ended up with pneumonia for my winter break, but let’s just say I didn’t ask for it. I had become a bit more lax...

March 13th, 2020. That was the last day I worked in pulmonary rehab at the large hospital I work for in Boston. I didn't know it was my...