One of the subjects discussed at our online weekly patient & carer support meeting for the National Aspergillosis Centre in Manchester, UK this week was the importance of maintaining our health & wellness so that we may maintain our best possible quality of life regardless of having a chronic infection.
Exercise is difficult when you have little energy, and one or two participants compared this to being given just a few teaspoons of energy that have to be eeked out carefully over the course of the day to ensure that everything that needed to be done was done. One person commented that some days they only wake up with one teaspoon of energy!
A little gentle exercise every day could play a major role in maintaining your health & wellness and can help with energy too if you keep it up. Over time it will help you breathe and prevent muscle loss.
We can all get great advice from our GP’s or Physiotherapists on specific exercises we can do in the home, but one patient mentioned that she had successfully worked their way back to fitness and enjoyment using the walking groups provided by the UK charity ‘Walking for Health’ who have a network of walking groups led by responsible trainers throughout the UK, specifically for people with asthma.
Well worth a try!
Another aspect of health & wellbeing is emotional health. It can be easy to become isolated and there is only so much entertainment to be found on TV. Another member of the support meeting suggested one of the many Zoom groups that have been set up to teach art!
There are many options online and many different media you can work with.
For example:
https://www.artcoursework.com/class-courses/free-beginners-learn-to-draw-and-paint-course/
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/d/online/free–arts–classes/?page=1
Good luck! Doing something is always better than doing nothing.