How can patients be expected to exercise when some can barely walk? That is a common question from a patient or a caregiver when pulmonary rehab is prescribed. There is a natural inclination to shy away from anything unpleasant, and that certainly includes shortness of breath.
What many patients do not understand is that pulmonary rehab is not simply someone trying to kill you with a treadmill. It is education on medications, on diet, on living will with lung disease. There is exercise involved, to be sure, but it is supervised closely and monitored to make sure that your blood pressure and oxygen saturation are within proper limits.
Pulmonary rehabilitation has improved the endurance, the attitude, and the quality of life of many thousands of patients.