PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) Having a severe lung disease can be debilitating and that loss of control can wreak havoc on your mental health.
62-year-old Michael Parsley enjoys his daily walks with his dog. He says he appreciates every day and every breath, because life used to be much more difficult. It got to the point where even going up a flight of steps was a struggle. I ended up being on oxygen 24 hours a day, he said.
Michael was suffering from a rare form of lung disease brought on from years of rheumatoid arthritis. Over time, over a period of eight, nine years, my pulmonary function started really spiraling out of control, he said.