One of the hardest parts of rehab is staying motivated. I have been having trouble over the past month because I haven't been feeling so great. I had an infection and was on antibiotics and prednisone and just started another course of steroids with a slower taper. The doctor thinks that this time I might need to stay on a maintenance dose but I am hoping not to.
An exacerbation of COPD causes severe shortness of breath and that is just the hardest thing to deal with for me. Just going into the kitchen from my livingroom causes distress and the harder it is, the less I do it. The fear of the shortness of breath is profound. With COPD, the less you do, the less you can do.
This week is almost over, so next week I am going to get back to rehab while I'm on the prednisone and have some energy. I need to get over the fear and back to the exhilaration that I feel when I am doing something good for myself. If I stay stagnant, I get depressed and it's even harder to do anything.
I know that life can be good, and I want it back!
~Eileen
