Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is a lung condition that causes airflow blockage and breathing related problems. Common symptoms of COPD can be frequent coughing, excess mucus production, and shortness of breath. Although tobacco use is a common cause of COPD, there may be other causes such as exposure to air pollutants at work or respiratory infections.
Our providers will review your history, including tobacco history, previous treatments and testing, as well as the severity of your symptoms. The providers may then order further testing such as complete pulmonary function tests (CPFT’s), imaging such as chest x-rays or CT scans, or blood tests. These tests will help to further classify the severity of your COPD and determine what type of therapy will be most beneficial to your treatment.
Medication options may be inhalers, oral tablets, nebulized medication, and in some cases, oxygen therapy. Our providers work hard to get your symptoms under control and reduce your visits to emergency rooms and urgent cares.
Our team works with you to create a care plan to improve your quality of life and to try to reduce the severity and frequency of daily symptoms and exacerbations.
I was born in Phoenix and even as a little girl I knew I would be a nurse. My mother was a labor and delivery nurse and she loved what she did – her stories of patients and doctors was so exciting to me! The majority of my 27 yr. career has been spent as an ICU nurse and I felt that the technical aspect of that care was what I loved best. When I became a nurse practitioner, I discovered that I loved talking to patients and listening to what they had to tell me- that was a surprising discovery about myself.
I grew up in small town in Kansas surrounded by lots of family. Like most teenagers, when it came time to go to college, I could not wait to get out of town. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, what to major in? My first thought was that I wanted to be a nurse because I did enjoy helping people. One biology class made me rethink that option. After looking at multiple careers, I picked what I enjoyed most at the time and continue to enjoy to this day. That was exercising. I went onto obtain my Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science. After college, I returned to my home town temporarily and was left with that question, “Now what?”. A friend of a friend contacted me to fill a position as a receptionist in a 1-physician family practice. Having no other offers, I jumped in head first. This is where I found my love for healthcare, and finally, a career I could be excited about.
I moved to Phoenix from San Francisco in my teens with my family. I won’t ever forget my initial introduction to Phoenix getting off the plane in the middle of July. The blast of heat was something I had never experienced. My husband is from Montana. We met at St. Joseph Hospital where he was going to school. I can’t say I’m fond of the summers here after all these years, but home is where our family lives. We raised our two children here, and now we especially love watching our granddaughter grow.
I always knew that I wanted a career in medicine. Growing up, I always admired my dad. As a physician, he genuinely enjoyed going to work every day and was able to help so many patients and their families. However, I didn’t always know that I wanted to work in the same field. When I started PA school I thought for sure I wanted to work in Pediatrics. But on rotations, I found myself looking forward to pulmonary and sleep cases. When I was lucky enough to do a rotation with Pulmonary Associates, I was certain where I wanted to be.
I believe that knowing the word “bronchiectasis” by the time I was 8 years old had something to do with my career path that led me into practicing Pulmonary Medicine. Growing up with a family member who suffered from chronic lung disease gave me the opportunity to observe the impact that a health care provider can have on not only the patient but the family.
I was born and raised in the Phoenix area, specifically, at Good Samaritan Hospital, and attended Arizona State University. I majored in chemical engineering, but I knew early on that I wanted to be a physician. My first experience in the medical field was as a volunteer EMT for the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Posse for several years during college (many years ago, before Sheriff Joe). My hobbies also began early, becoming a “car guy” in high school. I bought my first car before I had a license, by working with my father, who is still a roofing contractor here in the Phoenix area (Anthony Roofing). My first car was a very used, 1970 Chevelle SS, with a four speed and 454 big block (you car guys, or gals, know what that is!). Don’t I wish I still had it!
Like many physicians, I grew up with a medical background, although my father tried to dissuade me from pursuing a career as a physician and as you can see, he did so unsuccessfully. My mother was an RN and my father was a Cardiologist.
When I started my medical training many years ago, I never thought I would end up in the field of pulmonary and critical care medicine. Looking back, however, this journey reflected, in part, who I am. My interest in sports medicine and athletic activities brought me closer to pulmonary and exercise physiology. I wanted to understand the capacity and limitation of the pulmonary system, as well as how various diseases such as asthma, COPD, fibrosis, and bronchiectasis affect it. My background in internal medicine and pediatrics helps me appreciate the pathophysiology and progression of diseases such as cystic fibrosis, and their impact on those who are living with these diseases from childhood to adulthood. But these interest s and curiosities became reality because I was fortunate enough to have great teachers and mentors who taught and encouraged me to pursue this field. I believe that I need to do the same for my patients in helping them understand their illnesses so that they can live with, and sometimes overcome such limitations. While I like to be my patients’ partner in health, I know there will be times that my patients will need a little more “assertive encouragement” to take more responsibility in their health. Perhaps that part came from my background as a first generation immigrant where successes are earned, not given.
I have practiced with Pulmonary Associates for my entire career. I came to AZ (from MI, CT, MA, and OH) to complete my training, not expecting to stay, but the opportunities here were too good to pass up—both Arizona and Pulmonary Associates. Working with such a great diversity of patients and colleagues is amazing. I believe my strengths lie in listening and talking to patients and their families, in the office or hospital, in good times and bad. I believe this distinguishes true physicians. Others seem to appreciate it too: I’ve been a Phoenix Magazine “Top Doc” 14 times.
I was born and raised on a farm in North Dakota where I gained my understanding for hard work, family commitment and survival… especially through those harsh winters.