Meet Your COPD Foundation Captains!

Hi everyone! So happy to be apart of this wonderful community! I am originally from Georgia but live in Louisville, Kentucky now. I am a registered respiratory therapist. I work in New Albany, IN at a hospital where I am developing a COPD Navigator program to help with readmissions. I hope to educate my patients and families and be an advocate for those dealing with pulmonary diseases.

There are a few things that I have already done as a COPD advocate. I have spoken to my family and friends about COPD. I have educated staff as well as physicians on the importance of following the Gold Guidelines.

As a COPD Foundation Captain, I am interested in connecting others in the COPD community to find all the resources available to be able to help my patients and those out in the community.

My proudest COPD moment has been recognizing that I can help change how this disease affects people. My favorite inspirational quote is, “Find out who you are and then do it on purpose.” Dolly Parton. I love spending time with my family and traveling. My passion is with patient education.

Hi! My name is Addison Mathews , my favorite color is green, my favorite song is rises the moon, and I’m currently a high school student advocate for the prevention and awareness of COPD within my local community. As someone who has grown up in and around the school systems I’ve seen a ton of kids fall into bad habits that eventually lead to detrimental and deadly diseases to the lungs. Which pushed me to advocate for not only myself but the people around me. I want to target not only people living with COPD and affiliated disease but attempt to lower the numbers that we are seeing exponentially grow. I’m really interested in the IMPACT events that are being hosted! My proudest moment would be when my friends and I hosted our first campaign for our project against COPD, where we were able to see the impact. My favorite quote is “ The walls we build around us to keep sadness out also keeps out the joy.” While this may seem like a saddening quote it’s personal to me because of the walls that society puts around young ambitious people. I’m really excited for the opportunity to work with all of you!

I’m very happy to join the COPD Foundation Captains! I attended last year’s IMPACT and found a great group of people making a difference for COPD patients and their families. Since then, I have become active in spreading the news about COPD through social media, emails to my representatives, and local meetings. I’m also involved with the Alpha 1 Foundation, Better Breathers, and participate as a peer group mentor supporting Pulmonary Rehab.

Finding out you have COPD can feel like a death knell, but it is not! Finding out you CAN make a difference in your own life and those of others gives a new perspective and energy; and meeting with like-minded people reinforces the impact we can all make.

I look forward to this next great experience!

I have many favorite quotes, so I can’t give just one~

“Believe you can and you’re halfway there!”

And I’m a real Tolkien fan, so:

“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."

Hi, my name is Susan.

I was diagnosed with COPD in 2008. At that time, I had no symptoms. In 2017 I was diagnosed with stage 1 lung cancer and had a lobectomy to my upper right lung. I am cancer free since the lobectomy. Because of this, my COPD progressed, and I now am on medications but not on oxygen. I see a pulmonologist on a regular basis.

When I was told I had COPD, no one gave me any information as to what resources were available. This was also the case after my cancer surgery, even though my COPD was more advanced. I came across Better Breathers after my surgery in respiratory therapy. Since I joined Better Breathers, I have learned so much! I found the COPD Foundation and I was able to learn of all the remarkable work they do for us, their dedication to our health, and the advocacy work they are responsible for.

I want to be a part of this amazing group and bring awareness to others who have no idea about what COPD is or its effects on those who have it. I want to advocate wherever I am needed in any way I can. I am proud to represent this group.

Hi everyone, I am Prajwal Bhandari, Director of the Health Care Association of Nepal and a medical student. Through my community work, I have realized the significant gap in awareness and screening programs for COPD in Nepal. Factors such as indoor air pollution, forest fires, and smoking predispose many people to COPD. However, few awareness and screening campaigns exist in Nepal, leaving many individuals undiagnosed and untreated, especially in rural areas where access to diagnostic and management care is limited.

Deeply moved by the current COPD situation in Nepal, I founded the Health Care Association of Nepal to focus on the sustainable and integrated management of COPD. Our goal is to conduct community-based awareness and screening campaigns by empowering and training medical and public health students as Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) Awareness Youth Leaders. These youth leaders will champion COPD awareness and advocacy in their communities.

I have had loved ones and friends pass away because of COPD. Their knowledge was minimal. I also have COPD and want to do what I can to give the knowledge that I receive to help others. My name of course is Jamie Graves and I am 61 years old. I smoked for 40+ years. I have had horrible COPD for at least the past 12 years I know of. I'm from northeast Indiana.

My name is Emily. I am an Idaho native and absolutely love where I live. I grew up in a small town and attended college at Boise State University. Living in Idaho, I am lucky that we have so many wonderful opportunities to enjoy the outdoors, and I take full advantage of that. Whether that is paddleboarding on the Snake River, or just taking a walk with my dogs. Fall in Idaho is by far my favorite time of the year as it is absolutely beautiful, but a snowy, white Christmas is a very close second. One quote that has always resonated with me is: "To know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived, is to have succeeded." - Ralph Waldo Emerson. I love this quote not only because it ties into my career as an RT but in my own personal beliefs that if we can, we should always try to help others.

I have been a respiratory therapist for 3 years learning to care for many different patient populations from neonates to adult critical care. I got started in my field by chance. As a young adult, I didn't know what I wanted to do but I knew one thing, that I wanted to help people. I happened upon respiratory therapy one day at a career fair and it was the best decision I ever made. Throughout my RT career, one thing I have always stressed is patient education. I truly believe that the best way to set someone up for success, is for them to have all the information. This applies to so many aspects of life whether that is someone's health and treatment or our daily interests where we want to excel. I have gotten so much satisfaction from educating patients in my hospital, that I decided to look for other opportunities to reach others outside of the hospital. With that being said, I am excited to be able to make a difference in my community by joining the COPD Foundation.

I am a registered respiratory therapist in Michigan and Florida. I have previous experience in the hospital, skilled nursing and pulmonary rehabilitation settings (owner and therapist), clinical site for respiratory students with Oakland Community College, partner with the COPD Foundation's "Circles" program, as well as having been the program owner/ manager for a home COPD/asthma education program later named "Catching A Breath" for Meridian Medicaid HMO contracting for over thirteen years. This program, as well as pulmonary rehabilitation taught patients how to recognize and self-manage their lung disease more affectively leading to a healthier lifestyle and reduced hospital readmissions and thus reduced insurance costs. This program won an award with the Michigan Association of Health Plans. I have gained a unique skill set in that not only was I able to teach and help patients, but I was able to advocate to Meridian Medicaid, physicians, senior citizens and the community about lung disease, pulmonary rehabilitation and the importance of understanding the disease process, exercise, support and resources along with insurance reform. In fact, my advocacy consists of enhancing the home COPD program with Meridian from 5 counties in Michigan to the entire state and Illinois. I will be using this background to continue to advocate and share knowledge about lung disease. The COPD Foundation is a wonderful organization and platform to partner with to be able to advocate and educate. I look forward to the opportunity.

I have been a respiratory therapist for 19 years and a pulmonary educator since 2021. This has allowed me to meet and work with people affected by COPD and their families on a daily basis. I have been impressed, and dismayed, by the impact COPD has on every aspect of a person’s life.

I’m so excited for an opportunity to be a COPD state captain. As a state captain, I will be part of change and the opportunity to help advocate for people with COPD, provide education for the community about COPD so we can all better treat and understand individuals suffering from COPD, and provide a link between medical care and community resources. I am passionate about helping people learn the tools they need to better manage their COPD so they can live a life filled with the best possible quality.

My proudest accomplishment is my daughter. She inspires me to rise and to face any challenges that I may face. She reminds me that obstacles are meant to help us grow and push us to think outside the box. 

Quote “Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much” – Helen Keller

My name is Tom Manges. I have been married to my wife, Renee, for 26 years and I will be her caregiver when she gets her double lung transplant. I have been driving a semi for 30 years now, and my goal is to spread as much awareness as I can with my semi and the pamphlets I have and to grasp more knowledge from the COPD Foundation team to help others that are fighting this.

My favorite saying is “Communication is the foundation to success.”

Hello I’m Sally. I’m a retired manager/social worker. My job was working with people who had mental illness and or substance abuse issues. My work was with kids as young as 8 to a 72 year old. It was very difficult, yet rewarding at the same time. I enjoyed advocating for the rights of individuals to be treated no differently than if they had a physical condition.

One day I was working and the next I found myself on disability with breathing difficulties. It was later diagnosed as COPD. I had emphysema I was told. Even though I had smoked for years I had quit for 15. Somewhere in the back of my mind I thought I had quit in time to thwart off the consequences of smoking. But, I had not. I went from being physically active to having trouble being short of breath. This was/is my new normal!

Now I advocate for lung health and lung disease especially COPD. I try to educate people about lung disease and how it affects peoples daily life. I try to be an example of living my best life with a disease that has no cure. I have been given many opportunities to learn from others and that’s what I want to achieve with my life as an example of what to do once diagnosed.

I am glad to join a great group of advocates with the COPD Foundation!

As a COPD Foundation Captain, I am most interested in connecting with others to learn what resources are available for our patients that will help them live a healthier and fuller life.

The COPD Clinical Program Specialist role is new to the organization. The goal of this program is to prevent readmissions, educate the patient on their disease process and empower the patient to take control of managing their disease.

I am also involved in raising community awareness by attending local health fair events to provide COPD education and as a Tobacco Treatment Specialist, help patients overcome their nicotine addiction.

I truly believe by helping just one person, you have helped many. “One of the deep secrets of life is that all that is really worth doing is what we do for others.” -Lewis Carol