Although I live in DC, I have COPD which makes my breathing and my stamina too difficult to join the march. I am a COPD patient advocate who is also a former registered nurse and respiratory therapist. I will be home wearing my pink sweatshirt and red had and will be with you in spirit. This is sure to be a remarkable day!

From a well respected healthcare career (Registered Nurse and Respiratory Therapist) and decades of achievement in technology and wellness focused healthcare sales and marketing, I’ve been privileged to provide care and compassion to my patients, credibility to my clients and results to my employers. Reluctantly, in 2007 I retired from the workforce having been formally diagnosed with COPD and determined to improve my breathing, my health and my stamina.  A year later, and eager to do something meaningful, the COPD Foundation gave me that opportunity.

I’ve continuously represented the Foundation at patient, professional, pharmaceutical programs and events to raise awareness of COPD and, have met with congressional leaders to encourage support for COPD research funding and bill passage.

In 2014 I was elected to the Board of Governors of the COPD Patient-Powered Research Network (PPRN) and a member of the Board of Directors of COPD Foundation in 2016.

The objective of the PPRN is to develop a registry of individuals, at risk or diagnosed, with COPD who’ve agreed to share their health information with researchers thereby giving them the opportunity to begin studies earlier and, one day, find cure for COPD.

Just to keep me on my toes, and multi-tasking, in 2013, I was introduced to the Johns Hopkins Medical Institution and began a new endeavor as a Co-Investigator and the Patient Representative.  In this role, I’ve provided my perspective to “An Integrative Multilevel Study for Improving Patient-Centered Care delivery Among Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease”, (the BREATHE Study) during the development, execution, follow up and now, evaluation phase of this patient and caregiver transitional care intervention.

As BREATHE winds down this spring, I’ve been feeling the wrath of COPD.  It’s been a slow moving freight train for many years but now that it’s picking up speed, I intend to stay as strong as I possibly can for as long as I can.  That means getting on the treadmill when I’d rather do a crossword puzzle and going grocery shopping with an oxygen concentrator in my cart.