2 chronic lungers in Boston Marathon

Imagine having a lung function of 36% and qualifying for the Boston Marathon. That's exactly what Breathin Stephen, creator of breathinstephen.com has accomplished. If all goes well, he will be the first severe asthmatic to run in this most prestigious marathon in the world on April 20, 2009.

Stephen will not be the lone chronic lunger in this race, as Mike McBride, who has oxygen dependent emphysema, will be competing with him for the finish line.

Stephen said he's competed before with Mike, and "it's quite a spectacle to watch him haul a special cart which holds his liquid O2 tanks. He uses liter flows up to 18 lpm during a race, so he has to have people embedded throughout the course the change out his tanks.

"While his body requires supplemental O2," Stephen continued, " he doesn't seem to experience dyspnea, like I do. Even minor exertion makes me breathless. What makes me different than most people however, is that I don't let the breathlessness freak me out. I can tolerate extreme breathing discomfort. ( I don't know if that's good or bad, cuz sometimes I don't perceive when I'm about to crash) Anyway, I hope to beat him to the finish line."

Obviously there is no guarantee their lungs will allow them to participate in this race. And even if they don't, just the fact they have come this far is an inspiration in itself to chronic lungers.

This week in my weekly column at MyAsthmaCentral.com I wrote a nice piece about Breathin Stephen: The Hard Luck Asthmatic who is going to participate in the Boston Marathon. Click here and I will morph you over to this inspirational story.

Meet Breathin' Stephen, the Hard Luck Asthmatic On His Way to the Boston Marathon
by Rick Frea Thursday, April 02, 2009 @MyAsthmaCentral.com

Most asthma experts would say that no matter how bad your asthma is you should exercise. I can think of no better example of this than Stephen Gaudet, aka Breathin' Stephen. Despite being a severe, persistent asthmatic, he has qualified for the Boston Marathon.

He is the perfect example of the Hard Luck Asthmatic, the asthmatic who does everything right, like Jake Gallant, only he and his doctor still have trouble managing his asthma.

Stephen, age 54, said he's been hospitalized 92 times admits, many of those in critical care (his most recent was in Sept. 2008), and 14 times on a ventilator.

"My asthma has gotten progressively worse since the age of 5," he wrote in an email to me. "My first time on a ventilator was at the age of 16. I had a respiratory arrest in the elevator while being taken to radiology for a chest x-ray. I coded, but it's unclear if my heart stopped. I did however suffer 2 fractured ribs which leads me to believe that they did compression for one reason or another.

"The second time occurred at the age of 22," he continued. "I was on the ventilator for over a week. I had really bad [eosinophils], which complicated things. The worst exacerbation I've had in recent years was back in 2004. I ended up on a vent and then developed a bacterial pneumonia on top of the asthma."

Yet, despite his bad lungs, despite these set backs, he understands the importance of exercise and he walks as often as he can. In the "About" section of his blog, BreathinStephen.com, he says:

"Despite being breathless most of the time, I exercise hard and I keep active because it makes me feel good about myself. But mostly I do it... to stay alive! It's a proven fact that physical fitness is beneficial for people with lung disease. I guess in my case, I've taken that advice to the extreme! Daily exercise won't cure you, but it can certainly help you live better and probably longer ...I'm living proof."

As an even greater inspiration to us asthmatics, Stephen walks in marathons. Most recently, on March 20, 2009, he walked in the Rome Marathon (he wrote about his experience here). Up next is the most popular marathon in the world: The Boston Marathon!

There are cash prizes for the quickest to finish the 26-mile ride that takes place the third Monday of April (April 20 this year), but most people run the race for the accomplishment.

"What makes the Boston event so significant," Stephen said, "is that I will be the first person ever with severe lung disease allowed to compete by being granted 'mobility impaired' status."

His pulmonologist, Dr. Joshua Galanter, wrote a letter to the Boston marathon committee during his application process:

"With such severe obstruction, Mr. Gaudet is consistently breathing at his maximal expiratory flow rates and would have significant difficulty increasing his minute ventilation in response to exertion, which places a substantial challenge on his ability to carry out even normal exertion, making his competition in distance events all the more remarkable. I would not have predicted that he would be able to complete a marathon distance competition with his severe pulmonary impairment but for the fact that he has done so on several occasions. This represents a remarkable accomplishment on his part, one that represents a triumph of perseverance over physical limitations, and one that I hope the Boston Marathon would celebrate by allowing him to compete."

Stephen, who lives in San Fransisco, had to qualify for this race just like every other participant -- by having a qualifying finish time from a previous qualifying race. "The only difference," he said, "is that they are waiving the 6-hour time limit for me and a couple other people with disabilities."

However, he remains realistic: "As with every race that I prepare to do, it still remains to be seen if I'll actually be able to pull it off. As you know, the problem with severe asthma is that it has a mind of its own. You can feel great one minute and be sucking on the end of an ET tube the next."

So Breathin' Stephen -- the Hard Luck Asthmatic -- is currently training for the Boston Marathon. He is truly an inspiration to all us asthmatics, who can no longer say, "I have asthma, so I can't do that."

Yes you may have to pace yourself, but with good asthma management you too can be an inspiration. As best you can, keep moving -- or at least keep walking.

Breathin Stephen says it best: "As you know, there hasn't been much written about people with the severe form of this disease. I'm hoping that my taking part in the most prestigious marathon in the world will send a message to other hardcore lungers out there, that anything is possible."

Good luck Stephen. We'll be rooting for you.

You have no excuse not to excercise

One of the things that frustrates us medical care workers the most is that most of our patients are people who never took care of themselves their whole lives, and now they are reaping the punishments of the life choices they made -- or didn't make.

Now that we have research that not only proves a healthy diet can help you live a fuller and longer life, experts actually show us how to do it. Yet few of us listen. The wisdom is not new that exercise has benefits galore.

Working out and do aerobics as little as 15-20 minutes a day result in you not just being healthier but having more energy, more time, more strength, less stress, more ambition, better outlook on life, better able to handle annoying bosses, and (ahem for you lung patients) less winded just walking from the kitchen sink to the bedroom.

And those are only some of the benefits. Yet, when people are reminded to make better choices, they say "okay fine!", and then don't do it.

When I tell people I work out daily, the most common response I get is:

"How do you find time to workout? I want to work out too, but I simply don't have the time."

Honestly, I find this NOT to be a good excuse. Look at it this way: Which is more important...

1. Spending ten minutes making your bed in the morning or going into the basement and riding your bike for ten minutes?
2. Watching TV for an hour before you go to bed or going for an evening walk?
3. Doing the dishes after dinner or walking on the treadmill 20 minutes?
4. Doing that one last load of laundry or doing ten sit-ups or crunches?
5. Lecturing your kids about something or taking them for a bike ride (or sledding if it's winter)?
6. Scrubbing the bathroom for an hour or going for a jog with your best friend?
7. Sitting on your couch drinking a beer or going to the health club?
8. Sleeping in or doing your weight training workout?
9. Stepping outside for 10 minutes to smoke a cigarette, or taking that time to stretch?

I could go on but I think you get the point. I've written before about the importance of exercise. Whether you are 100% healthy or have asthma or COPD. Get off your butt and pace the house! Ride the bike while you are watching Jay Leno or Desperate Housewives.

Don't be a full-time patient in a hospital or nursing home because you ate too many Big Macs or Whoppers, or too many home style breakfasts, or smoked too many cigarettes.

In the past people didn't know any better, BUT YOU DO KNOW BETTER! YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE NOT TO EXERCISES!

I try not to lecture too often, but this is something I feel pretty strongly about, especially considering what I see on a daily basis.