Julia runs a series of Pulmonary Rehab classes for people with COPD. Here she talks about what motivates her and what she’s learned about how people feel about living with breathing difficulties. Most importantly she emphasises that you only get out of a class what you’re prepared to put in.
Watch out half way through for guest appearances from several energetic members of Julia’s class 
Here’s a video interview I did with Val when we visited the Pulmonary Rehab class. I asked her to tell us a little about what living with her disease was like before coming to the classes, what the classes were like for her and how things have improved as a result.
I’ve cut the video down to the three and a half minutes, but we actually talked for more like ten. So I’ve made a podcast out of the audio from our chat so that you can hear more of the details of what Val had to say.
Either save the podcast to your computer by right clicking on the link or just click normally to play the file here.
Julia Bott is a Consultant Physiotherapist working in Surrey. We went to visit one of her Pulmonary Rehab classes and were treated first of all to a simple explanation of what COPD is and what’s going on inside the lungs. Whenever I watch it, I can’t help but sit up straight, breathe deeply and be grateful that I can fill my lungs easily.
The members of the class, while all having some breathing difficulties, were eager to impress on us the recovery that they’ve achieved through simple exercises complementary to their clinical treatments. There’ll be more of them here soon, but the trouble was not getting them to talk on camera, but getting them to stop talking once they’d started!
COPD stands for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, which, as Julia explains covers a group of diseases such as chronic asthma, chronic bronchitis and emphysema. It is most frequently associated with people who have smoked, though it appears that there are also genetic factors and at least one member of the class said his illness was asbestos-related.
NHSDirect has an introductory article that goes into more detail.
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