Keep Calm and Carry On

Good words to live by. Not always as easy as one may think especially when you have a life threatening, progressive disease, like pulmonary hypertension (boo siss). When first diagnosed, many are scared out of their wits but with proper diagnosis and treatment it is a very doable disease. So let us Keep Calm.

So the thought being. Keep Calm and Carry On. Life can get back to being almost normal. Many when they do get on those proper meds can go back to work or pretty much their life in general; the life they had before diagnosis. The only difference being, they are now on a medication.

Keeping Calm is easy enough if you think about it. They have what they call pursed lip breathing, it helps to calm and is just pretty good not too bad either – in general. You take a deep breath in to maybe a count of say 5 or 6 – then “blow” it out slowing through your lips as if you were blowing out a candle and to the count of 7 to 10. Good exercise for the lungs and relaxes the body as an extra bonus.

Pursed lip breathing is also good when you do exercises if you start to feel like you’re a little sob (that’s short of breath – thank you very much). Again, it helps relax your body on a whole and gets you back to doing what you need to do – to carry on.

When we are calm, we can carry on. Knowing how to pace yourself or knowing what your limits are is also important in both keeping calm and carrying on. Some with a disability know their limits; some find those limits the hard way. Either or, try to keep them in mind.

And always remember to smile -- it's contagious