Case Study – Client Mrs. W – Qigong breathing exercises enabled patient to be taken off of ventilator/life support and resume normal breathing.
Mrs. W is 75 years old and was involved in a bad car accident, from which she sustained 14 broken ribs (including all the ribs on her right side), as well as a punctured lung. She was sedated in intensive care, had a tracheostomy (surgery to insert a breathing tube into her neck) to make it easier for her to breathe, and was on ventilation/life support. As she slowly started to heal and recover, she still had many problems being able to wean off the ventilation machine and twice had to go back on the ventilator after doctors thought they had weaned her from it. Because of this, the doctors predicted she may not ever be able to wean from the ventilation assistance completely, and were getting ready to transfer her to a nursing home that would accept patients on ventilation.
It was at this point that her daughter Ms. W – who has been a qi gong student of Mr. Tang’s on-and-off for 6 years - decided to consult with Mr. Tang about whether there was anything she could do to help her mother that would involve qi gong breathing. Mr. Tang devised a plan of daily qi gong breathing exercises, starting with one minute at a time and increasing each day, that Ms. W and her sisters practiced with her Mother while she was still in the hospital. Within a week, Mrs. W was weaning off the ventilation again and never had any more relapses. She only moved rapidly forward in her progress and within 2 more weeks she was off ventilation help completely and also was able to have her trach tube removed. Continuing the qi gong breathing work, Mrs. W also progressed forward in her physical therapy goals more rapidly. Within another week, Ms. W was also able to wean off of oxygen assistance. It has been 4 ½ months since the accident and Mrs. W is back at home, living independently, walking with a cane, and does not have any respiratory problems.