“I couldn’t breathe. I was totally overweight. Couldn’t walk from the car to the house carrying my groceries.” Linda Hunter is one of 25 million Americans dealing with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. “I thought I was just out of shape. Cause I had been working, sitting all day, went home, and sat all night. Turned out it was severe emphysema,” explains Hunter.

Emphysema is a symptom associated with C.O.P.D. New treatments such as removing a portion of the infected lungs and increasing the use of steroids have recently made headlines.

But one treatment continues to gain in popularity: pulmonary rehabilitation. “There’s a certain period of time for the education piece, there’s a certain time for exercise, there’s also another phase where they maintain that,” explains Alan Cunningham, System Director for Lee Memorial Health System’s Pulmonary Rehabilitation Clinics. When treating patients with C.O.P.D, it’s important to design a plan that caters to their individual needs.

“Now you can’t do it once a month, twice a month, you have to do it religiously and you have to be serious about it and it will improve your lifestyle tremendously,” says Hunter.

Recent studies have indicated that support groups are also having an impact on the recovery process. Hunter says her weekly sessions at rehab keep her motivated. “We’re all sort of like a family, we support each other, we pick on each other, make fun of each other, that’s my support.”

Pulmonary rehabilitation specialists say the emotional healing is just as important as the physical healing.