A lifelong athlete, Karen wanted to remain active in spite of her asthma. She realized, though, that her activity level was not where she wanted it to be, so she set a long-term goal of running a 5K– an activity that had always been on her bucket list.
With her goal in mind, Karen dedicated herself to regular trainings, running whenever she had a spare moment. But no matter what she did, Karen couldn’t get her distance above two miles.
My chief complaint was always my breathing. It was never my knees, never my ankles. It was the fact that I couldn’t breathe. So I gave up without accomplishing my goal.
After giving up her 5K dream, Karen visited her primary care physician, who worked with her on a new disease management strategy. With her new treatment regimen, she added walking back into her daily routine.
Before she knew it, she was running again. And she ran all the way across the finish line of her first 5K.
Since then, Karen has completed various 5 and 10K races, and recently finished a half marathon – something she would have considered impossible, two years ago.