Latest Update: 5/28/15

Latest Update: 5/28/15

I am pleased to report that I received perfectly normal PFT (Pulmonary Function Test) results on Tuesday when I visited my local pulmonologist in Asheville. The breathing test was 106% of predicted and I think he said the CO2 exchange was 99.9%. Dr. Campbell basically said I am keeping the ILD in check and that the low dose of prednisone I am taking (5 mg/day) is really not for the ILD, but for the Polymialgia Rheumatica (an autoimmune disease) that I also have.

I am also happy to report that I have been feeling great and continuing to steadily lose weight through regular exercise and dieting, especially since January 1, 2015. I attribute my success to walking 5 miles per day at an average of 4.4 or 4.5 mph with 60 second (rather than 20 sec.) spurts now, and at 6 to 7 mph now (rather than 5 mph) which I am completing about every half mile.

I have also been continuing the 5:2 Fast Diet, in which I try to keep my calorie count down to around 650 calories for two nonconsecutive days a week, or at least once a week. My BMI is currently 23.1 (well within the normal range). Here is a screenshot of my weight loss record from January 2015 to today, May 28, 2015, where I currently weigh 160.8 lbs.:

My goal is going to be to try and get down to 150 or 155 lbs and to try and keep my weight between 150 and 160 lbs. for the rest of my life! — which I hope will be a LONG TIME!

5/07/2015 Update

OK, I am not good at blogging because I don't do it regularly and it takes me about an hour to figure out how to login with the right account and password and then find my way to the "new post" area. So my apologies...

Anyway, I just want to check in with anyone who might read this and let you know that I am still doing well after over 2 years of being diagnosed with ILD (DIP and/or NSIP) I am now down to taking only 5 mg/day of prednisone (mainly due to my Polymyalgia Rheumatica autoimmune disease, rather than due to ILD) and I weigh 163.5. I am hoping to reach 150 lbs this summer, and my goal is to then stay between 150 and 160. I have been continuing to walk a lot, and have now increased my walking to at least 5 miles a day, five days a week (and sometimes more). I work out with weights for about 30 minutes on the other two days of the week that I don't walk. This helps because I am at my local fitness center every day (unless, like lately I decide to walk laps around our local lake in Black Mountain). I generally walk at 4 MPH, but when on the treadmill, I like to increase it often up to 4.3 miles per hour and then every two laps (or every half mile) I jog at 6.5 or 7 MPH for 1 minute. I started out by walking a total of 3 miles or so and doing three 20 second spurts of jogging (spaced a couple of minutes apart) [alla Dr. Michael Mosley's suggestion on PBS] near the end of my walk, but now those 20 second spurts have become 1 minute spurts and I do ten of them instead of 3 during my walks, which is now a 20 lap or 5 mile walk. (Sometimes I have done 24 laps or 6 miles!)  

But the best part is that I have no symptoms at all of shortness of breath or any pain from breathing deep as I had a couple of years ago. I had a good checkup back in November with my pulmonologist at Duke Medical Center and he seemed to think I would be able to "put this behind me" or as he explained it is being held in check and that I need not make another appointment with him since he is busy with patients who really need his help. (I knocked the top out of the 6 minute walk test) and I did pretty well on the PFT (Pulmonary Function Test) also, but I asked for another appointment in a year just to make sure things are on track still, but I really do feel great!

In addition to continuing to walk 5 or 6 miles (at least 5 days a week) I have also continued to stay on the 5:2 Fast Diet and find it so amazing that I can just take off any pounds I might have gained the day or two before by sticking to this fast diet and walking.

I have an annual physical appointment with my doctor in about a week, so I am hoping I'll get a good report then as well. I'll try and login and post another update again soon. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to finishing up the semester and getting back in the studio where I will be doing some sanding once again, but with a new tool designed for dust extraction and while wearing an appropriate mask to reduce the risk of fine dust particulates getting into my lungs. (I have virtually been avoiding working in the wood shop since being diagnosed, so it will be a cautious adjustment to make.)

The bottom line is that WALKING seems to have changed my metabolism and it really works!

1/19/15 Update - So sorry for the delay in posting!

So sorry for the delay in posting! I'm just really unfamiliar with the whole blogging thing and how to moderate and post, etc.

I have been getting healthier and healthier for the past two years since my original diagnosis and I have even been told by my pulmonologist at Duke University Medical Center that I may be able to put this disease behind me! Later he said that while remission is not a word he would use with this disease, that keeping my ILD in check is what he thinks I'll be able to do with infrequent PFT Test monitoring, etc. He even suggested in Nov. 2014, that I might not need to make a followup appointment, but I insisted on another visit in a year, just to make sure everything is continuing to go well.

So the really good news is that I am currently on a relatively low dose of 6 mg/day of prednisone, and hope to taper that down to 5 mg in another month or so. I have NO SYMPTOMS anymore of ILD, that I notice, and mostly I think it is because I have been WALKING, WALKING, WALKING!!! By the way, I am now walking 4 miles/day on at least 5 days a week. Two days a week I do some light weight lifting on machines at the gym. I have recently walked as much as 6 miles on the treadmill at a pace of 4 or 4.1 MPH, and I did that in a single session of less than 90 minutes! (And normally I now do at least 4 miles in an hour.) So I have become a firm believer in the power of walking if you have a lung disease like mine and you can walk through the pain at first. (I used to hear the crackling in my lungs from my disease, late at night when everything was quiet, but I haven't heard that in more than a year!)

Anyway, some more good news (since my last post, which was forever ago) is that I have maintained a lower weight for almost 2 years now. I have done this by continuing the 5:2 Fast Diet (book is by Michael Mosley). My wife and I saw a program by him on PBS and decided to try it, especially after my brother had tried it with success. A year ago I weighed about 205 lbs., and I am currently hovering between 175.5 and 178.5 pounds. I am about 5' 10 inches tall — so, while my BMI is slightly higher than the normal range or slightly overweight, I feel I'm pretty much in control and can bring my weight down more by fasting (limiting my calorie intake to around 650 on those Fast Days).

I also have a recipe for "Ak-Maks & Lox" as we call it, which uses the Ak-Mak crackers and 1/3 less fat cream cheese and 1 oz. of smoked salmon or lox, capers and chopped red onion and tomatoes to make something similar to a traditional Bagel & Lox. We love it and it is our evening meal on Fast Days and contains just over 200 calories! For breakfast, we have one fried egg, a piece of whole grain toast with butter on it, 6 oz. of orange juice, and coffee. For lunch my wife makes a smoothie which is healthy and contains about 60-70 calories.

I post this so that others may be able to benefit from what has worked for me, but I wish you all the best results in any way that might work for you! Thanks for reading!

Feel free to comment or ask questions, as I think I've now figured out how to moderate and post responses, etc.