Meet Your COPD Foundation Captains!

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.

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.”

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

It is an honor to be a part of this community. As a COPD Foundation Captain, I will serve as a dedicated advocate, drawing from personal experience as a family member of someone, my father, affected by COPD. My father fought a valiant yet exhaustive fight against this disease until his transition on October 11, 2023.

My father’s passing has become the catalyst and driving force for me to connect with family members and caregivers of those living with COPD to bring awareness and resources to help their loved ones live healthier lives until a cure is found.

I am interested in engaging in advocacy efforts to raise awareness about COPD, its challenges, and the importance of support and resources. I am also interested in participating in advocacy efforts to influence legislation that supports COPD research, access to treatment, and improved healthcare policies.

My proudest moment is answering the call to become active in this community to honor my father.

I have several inspirational quotes that I live by, but this is the one I often lead with, “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” – Nelson Mandela.

More about me: I am an avid reader and have been a part of a book club for over ten years. We are known as The Reading Divas! I love to travel and enjoy taking road trips with my travel buddy to visit all 50 states. I have 17 more to go! I find great fulfillment in volunteering and impacting people’s lives for the greater good.

I’m incredibly honored to be able to join the COPD Foundation! I am an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, working in Pulmonary Disease/Critical Care with an inpatient and outpatient population. Having the experience in treating these individuals, I hope to use my skills to advocate for further support and education for those living with COPD to improve quality of life and understanding of the disease.

I have 5 years of experience at the bedside as a critical care RN and transitioned to an Acute Care NP about two years ago. I have worked in the pulmonary clinic seeing patients with COPD daily & helping achieve stability of their chronic condition. In addition to this, I also treat the inpatient population with COPD exacerbations and ensure prior to discharge they are stable and ready to return home with quick clinic follow up to prevent hospital readmissions.

As a COPD Foundation Captain, I am interested in being in the loop with the most recent endeavors the COPD Foundation has been taking on. I am hoping that by learning what the COPD Foundation has to offer, I can connect my patients with more resources to help them improve their quality of life and support their chronic condition.

My proudest COPD moment has been recognizing that not all treatments are created equal, and listening to the patient and educating the patient on their condition is KEY to ensuring the correct fit of treatment for the disease and longevity of compliance with treatment.

My favorite inspirational quote is “You’ll always try your best to do the right thing.”

I hope to use the COPD Foundation as an extra resource for my patients & will strive to give the best care I can to them on a daily basis.

Emma Goebel, DNP, ACNPC-AG, CCRN

As a State Captain for Illinois and patient advocate, I hope to accomplish with understanding and compassion for those struggling with COPD by passing on valuable information through education and resources... and fellow COPD patients who have learned from others over time, to help improve and adapt to living a better life, living with COPD.

When I was diagnosed, close to 20 years ago I had never heard of COPD and there was very little information available.

After learning about the COPD Foundation and attending pulmonary rehab a new world of knowledge opened up for me... and I wasn’t alone, as there were others just like me. And we continue to move forward since those early days of confusion.

As a COPD advocate I have participated in health fairs and community events promoting COPD awareness.

I have worked and continue to work with PPRN which is, the Patient Powered Research Network which works to one day help us all.

One of our respiratory therapists with the COPD Foundation came up with a terrific and fun way to help us practicing better breathing. We were taught to play a harmonica. It was a great idea and continues to live. I and six others played with a support group a few years ago and actually did a little traveling around to inspire others, even though we didn’t sound so great... we did inspire and had a lot of fun.

I enjoy and learn a lot in our Oxygen360 support group for those of us who use oxygen. We help each other and always learn something new from our leader who is extremely informative.

I have been in training to become a Peer Group Coach to support newly diagnosed COPD patients adjust to pulmonary rehab along with the hope they will understand how valuable exercise and learning how to be an advocate for their own health... and by learning how to help ourselves lead a fuller and purposeful life is my goal for me and others.

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.

Hello Everyone!

I recently accepted a position within my organization as a COPD Clinical Program Specialist with experience as a Respiratory Therapist. Throughout my career, I have cared for numerous COPD patients in the emergency department, critical care, and now as a clinical program specialist. Being able to advocate and bring awareness to these patients is what’s most important to me in this role.

As a COPD Foundation Captain, I look forward to working with others to identify tools and resources that I can utilize with patients I visit throughout the hospital to help them better manage their disease process, hence reducing the risk of readmission.

When I'm not working, I like to go shopping, travel, and spend time with my family. The thing I am most proud of in life is my family; they inspire me and motivate me to reach my full potential.

“We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.”- Ronald Reagan