On a broader scale, caregivers may see the slow and labored footsteps as these patients move, often using a walker, but they don't feel the draining fatigue that keeps them inactive. Life moves at a different pace for them. She also wants to be honest with them about how she feels. Sometimes she feels her caregivers try to put words in her mouth, but she wants to be brutally honest when she doesn't feel good. Chronic lung patients need compassion and patience from those who take care of them.
Encouraging words can go a long way toward easing someone's pain.
These patients mourn the losses in their lives and are often prone to depression. Malnutrition can also be a problem, so respiratory professionals are wise to look for symptoms beyond the lungs. Repp traces her current problems to dental work and a sinus infection she contracted in December 1997 and January 1998. She documented the progression of her illness in a neatly typed synopsis, noting the antibiotics she took and the frequent hospitalizations. In September 1997, she broke a tooth and had it replaced with a temporary cap so she could visit a friend in Arkansas.