Asbestosis victim fights back using SJLH program

Take 100 percent responsibility for your life. That is the mantra that Phil Spencer lived after his October 2010 diagnosis of Asbestosis.   

Spencer went from a highly active fourth-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, to barely navigating a flight of stairs.  

“I was diagnosed in October of 2010 and deteriorated very quickly,” remembers Spencer. 

“By February 2011, I was on oxygen and could barely make it from the parking lot to my office at the school.  And to add salt to the wound, on February 17, 2011, which happens to be my birthday, I got my oxygen tank; some birthday present.”  

By the end of March, Spencer’s health dictated his future, and he was forced to take early retirement from his maintenance job with the Libby School District; a job he loved and had worked at for 13 years.   

Spencer will be the first to tell you that his journey through declining health didn’t start as the result of a diagnosis of asbestosis; it started years earlier as he was hit with a barrage of life events that took his stress levels to heights very few of us could endure.  

In 2008, he watched helplessly as Diane, his wife of 30 years, lost her battle to colon cancer.  A few years later his health forced him into early retirement and cost him his connections in his beloved world of Tae Kwon Do. 

And then, as if matters could get any worse, a fire at the plywood plant claimed his part-time entrepreneurial business.  Life would not give Spencer a break.  His health continued to spiral downward:  his breathing worsened and he was struggling to even get off the couch, resulting in a 40 pound weight gain.  

He felt helpless, but his years of exercise and self-reflection along with his faith in God gave him the motivation to take back his life.  He had the tools within him; all he needed now was the opportunity to accomplish the task.  

“Joining a gym is a great idea, and I highly recommend that as a means to continue with what you learn, but in the beginning I needed help and motivation by professionals who understand my condition.  As fate would have it, the opportunity and the professionals were right in front of me all along.”  

In the spring, 2011, Dr. Brad Black recommended that Phil join the Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program at St. John’s Lutheran Hospital.  

“At first I thought how I am going to do this?  I couldn’t even make it up the stairs to the hospital without getting winded. Then I remembered my own words to my students, don’t ignore the opportunities given to you.” 

Pulmonary Rehabilitation is a 36-session course that meets twice a week, and it was key, Spencer said.

 and is designed to provide comprehensive care to individuals with pulmonary disease including, but not limited to emphysema, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic bronchitis, asbestos related disease, and alpha 1 antitrypsin deficiency.    

Once enrolled in the program, participants work with a team of pulmonary rehab specialists including a medical director, nurses, respiratory therapists, and dieticians to create a program that will be the most effective for the individual.  

“We set realistic goals with the patient in order to get them started on their way to better health and improved quality of life,” said Elisabeth Erickson, RN, and Pulmonary Rehab Coordinator at St. John’s.   

Pulmonary Rehab can benefit patients who have shortness of breath that limits their daily activities, want to learn more about their disease and ways to manage it, want to learn ways to breathe more efficiently, or who want to attain the highest level of independent function.   

Spencer is thrilled with the results he has seen since he started the program.  

“I started St. John’s Pulmonary Rehab Program in the Spring of 2011, and I’ve lost 40 pounds using the tools that I learned while I was there, along with a healthy diet, and those stairs aren’t nothin’ now; I run up them,” said Spencer. 

“A year-and-a-half ago, I thought that I was going to die.  We all know what we need to do to improve our condition, but the program helped me pace myself for improvement and gave me the motivation I needed to continue.”

 even when I thought I couldn’t go on. The instructors know their business and they know just how far to push.   I wouldn’t be where I am today without this program.  The tools to make changes and better your health and yourself are within you, but this program provides the opportunity to use and develop those tools. It’s worth investing in yourself.  It’s worth taking 100% responsibility for your life! Don’t ignore the opportunity!”

Erickson added, “For many graduates, Phil included, this program has been able to control and alleviate symptoms, improve energy and the ability to perform daily activities, increase exercise tolerance, decrease anxiety and depression commonly associated with pulmonary disease, maximize lung function, improve lifestyle by weight loss and smoking cessation, and increase their circle of friends to include others who share the same symptoms. “

“Phil is just one example of the amazing things that this program can do for people with pulmonary disorders.  His accomplishments are truly inspirational.  He took charge of his own health and changed the quality of his life.  He took the information he learned in the program and ran with it!  I am very proud to know Phil.”