Reluctant rehab patient goes from “I don’t see the point” to “I don’t want to quit”

Kandi Evans didn’t want to go through pulmonary rehab. She didn’t see the point. She didn’t expect to get better – and it wasn’t that long ago she didn’t even expect to survive.

“I came down with a really bad case of COVID,” she explained. “It almost took my life twice. Afterwards, my cardiologist and Dr. Saab recommended that I begin rehab.”

So that’s what she did – grudgingly, at first.

“I hated it,” she said. “It was hard for me to be motivated to go, first of all. And while I was there, I felt so bad. I felt like I was never going to get any better. I was on oxygen, and I just thought it was a waste of time.”

In the beginning, she couldn’t really do anything. Her physical strength and lung capacity had both been wiped out. But, based on her doctor’s recommendations, she kept going – and to her surprise, she found that she did get better. So much better, in fact, that she ended up asking them a question she couldn’t have imagined when her journey began.

“I felt better. I was doing better,” Kandi explained. “So, when they told me I didn’t have to come back anymore, I said, ‘well I don’t have to, but can I?’ And they were like, ‘yes!’”

The turning point was when she realized she was getting stronger and the things she had to do were becoming easier. Once she noticed that, she started looking forward to the experience. Today, she still goes to rehab three times a week, and she’s recently begun sharing the experience with a partner: her husband, Calvin Ray Evans, is going through cardiac rehab.

“He’s going for a different reason,” she said, “and it’s only been a couple of months that he’s been out there with me. But we look forward to it.”

Sharing the experience with her husband also makes the routine easier to maintain, though the staff plays a big part in that, too.

“I would say, and I’m not trying to butter anybody’s bread, but the staff down there is absolutely amazing,” she said. “They have been so encouraging. I feel like they are very, very attentive. They’re right on it.”

Based on her experience, Kandi recommends that others be more open to their doctor’s recommendations if they suggest rehabilitation. She would also tell them to go into it with a more open mind than she had at first.

“I would tell everyone, don’t just go to get them off your back,” she said. “Don’t just say, I’m going to do this for however long he suggests. I would encourage anybody to continue going because it makes you feel better. It makes you stronger in every way.”