My pulmonary rehab has been going well. After a slow start, I was doubtful as to how much progress I would be making. They started me out walking 2.0 miles per hour on the treadmill for 13 minutes... when I was doing 30 minutes at 2.5 or more at home. But after just under two weeks of it, I have progressed up to doing 22 minutes at 2.5 or 2.6, so it's good. When you combine that with 3 minutes on the arm machine (zero progress there, but that's fairly common) and 14 minutes on the step machine, it's over 30 minutes of exercise. So it's good.
However, I still sometimes wish they would push me a little harder. I know they're used to dealing with mostly older patients with COPD or weak hearts, but my heart is perfectly fine and I just feel I could be doing more. It's something I want to address with my doctor at my re-re-rescheduled appointment this Tuesday.
I'm starting to learn the names of some of the people who are there while I am, most predominantly an older man named Bob and a 50-something man named Greg. There are three nurses who work there regularly, and apparently a couple who fill in when needed though they haven't shown their faces yet.
But today I felt proof that even in just 2 weeks of rehab, I am starting to see some benefits. I ran up and down the stairs 3 different times today while Jarrod was working on the basement. And you know what? I wasn't out of breath! Since I use the step machine, it mimics walking up steps, but without the exertion because you're sitting. So I'm building up those muscles, and today they came in handy.
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