Sean’s Burgundy Thread: Breathing Does A Body Good
On the day of my very first bone marrow biopsy, the really nice technician encouraged me to relax and to breathe deeply throughout the procedure. I settled down on the table and thanked her for the kind suggestions.
After I asked her to explain the nuts-and-bolts of the biopsy, I immediately stopped relaxing and very nearly stopped breathing. So much for asking questions.
When she eventually pried my hand off of the doorknob and took me back to the cot, she repeated that I should relax and breathe. Relax and breathe. It was then that a long ago memory of Mr. H. and his ‘Philosophy of Breathing’ came flooding back.
It was during my very first private trumpet lesson in junior high school that Mr. H. matter-of-factly decreed:
‘You can stop playing now. It’s obvious that you don’t know how to breathe.’
What? Who doesn’t know how to breathe? Everybody knows how to breathe! I’ve been breathing pretty much since I was a kid.
My mom had abandoned me at the music store that day to run some errands, so I secretly wondered if there was a way to sneak out of the practice studio to find a different trumpet teacher. But, before I could dash away, Mr. H., who was between me and the doorknob, asked me to put my horn down, to sit up straight without slouching, and to take a couple of deep breaths.
Wanting to prove his observation erroneous, I sat up, opened my mouth, raised my shoulders, and gulped in enough air to fill a zeppelin -- maybe two. In my triumph, I forgot to exhale, turned beet red, coughed, and nearly passed out. I’m glad that my mom wasn’t there to see that spectacle.
At that he smiled and said ‘See, you don’t know how to breathe. But I can help you.’
I was still dizzy when Mr. H. began to teach me about his Philosophy of Breathing, a simple set of exercises that enabled me to become a much better young trumpet player.
And to my great surprise, they also helped me cope with having multiple myeloma some 35 years later.
That’s right, during an $8, one-half hour music lesson, my junior high school trumpet teacher gave me a strategy to battle a significant side effect of multiple myeloma. What a bargain!
Some of you out in Myelomaville may have experienced the same challenges to breathing that I have faced:
Broken ribs, compressed and collapsed vertebrae, and a fractured sternum made it particularly painful for me to take in deep breaths. Tumors and bone fragments impinging on nerve bundles caused searing pain and, no matter if I was sitting, standing, or laying down, it just plain hurt to breathe.
In addition, my early bone marrow specimen samples showed that squatter myeloma cells, occupying nearly 80 percent of my bone’s prime real estate, had kicked many of my good red cells, white cells, and platelets to the curb.
And who can forget the old losing-height-due-to-vertebral-compression trick which caused my organs, including the lungs, to uncomfortably squish together? I hate it when that happens.
Without enough hemoglobin-rich red cells tooling around my bloodstream doing their oxygen-meals-on-wheels delivery thing, I fell prey to anemia and its incumbent shortness of breath.
If that wasn’t enough, a lack of white blood cells harkened respiratory infections and bouts of pneumonia.
You know, typical multiple myeloma stuff.
Mr. H. kept his breathing techniques simple enough for even this noodle-headed junior high school trumpet player to remember them 35 years later.
He said that proper breathing promotes relaxation, relieves stress, and improves performance. Your breath is the power behind your voice and your music. Master your breathing and you can do almost anything.
Simple, and maybe a bit idealistic, but I still remember it today. Not bad for a guy who can’t remember what he had for lunch.
Mr. H.’s simple exercise for Relaxation is the following:
Sit comfortably, legs uncrossed. Thinking the syllable ‘ahhhhh’, exhale a warm flow of air fully through your open throat and mouth. Empty your lungs.
Without raising your shoulders or tensing your body, inhale through your nose for eight counts while gently expanding your abdomen, ribs, and chest to allow the air to flow in.
Remain as relaxed as possible while holding your breath for eight counts.
Exhale a warm flow of air through your open throat and mouth. Empty your lungs for eight counts.
Repeat.
As time and lessons progressed, he taught me several different breathing exercises that I used through the ensuing years of playing trumpet. After I stopped performing and started producing shows, I never gave the mechanics of my breathing much thought.
That is until myeloma and pain and broken bones and breathlessness came along.
On that day in the biopsy suite, I tried Mr. H.’s breathing techniques to help get me through the procedure. I think that it helped.
Later that afternoon in the MRI room, I concentrated on my breathing again. And then during the PET scan the next morning, and while sitting in the waiting rooms, and riding in the cars, and walking the halls. I pretty much paid attention to my breathing whenever I could.
As the chemotherapy started taking hold, nausea and fevers and heartburn arrived and fatigue overcame me. In contrast, dexamethasone (Decadron) caused nightly insomnia which tug-o-warred with the dex.
By that point, I was taking some heavy pain medications and anti-nausea drugs, but I discovered that if I used good breathing practices, the side effects of the medicines and the treatments were better tolerated.
I encourage you to talk with your medical professional about the benefits of using focused breathing techniques. The Internet is filled with ideas about various breathing methods.
Even today, breathing exercises help me to relax, sleep better, feel better, fight nausea, energize myself, and improve my moods.
Thanks, Mr. H.!
It was also in junior high, by the way, that Christine R. told me that I didn’t know how to kiss. Now THAT I believed.
Sean Murray is a multiple myeloma patient and columnist at The Myeloma Beacon. You can view a list of his columns here.
If you are interested in writing a regular column to be published by The Myeloma Beacon, please contact the Beacon team at .
Aloha Shawn,
Excellent article. I found myself doing the deep breathing exercise while reading it. Its amazing how many things we take for granted that can make a difference in our daily lives. We just need to remember them and not to assume we already know and remember everything.
Thanks for the simple reminder. Keep your chin up as best you can!
Aloha
Tom
Thank you Sean for a most interesting article. I feel moved to comment on the practice of bone marrow biopsies without sedation. Here in Adelaide, South Australia, it has always been the practice to provide sedation for the procedure. I have had many bone marrow biopsies over my 18 year myeloma career, none without sedation. It seems we might be unique here in this regard! Thank goodness.
Thanks Sean for the column about breathing. I am sorry that you suffered through so very much in your early times with myeloma, and hope that you have recovered from all of that now.
I also think that good breathing cleans out the lungs and leads to better health. Singing has been helpful for me that way, as well as walking, cycling etc. I used to do a lot of bagpiping too, but that is a bit too strenuous for me now. It all helps with the blood circulation, which in my own unscientific way I am convinced helps with one's heath. I was able to keep walking, using walking sticks or a walker, through the worst of the painful times I had with the fractured vertebrae.
Happy Canada Day!
Wonderful article and great advice on breathing. But of course what I really want to know is whether Christine R. gave you kissing lessons.
Sean, for my first bone marrow biopsy, I was instructed to try deep breathing. I found it very helpful. As I went through radiation, chemotherapy, and spine fusion surgery, I was using breathing exercises all they way though. In advance of my stem cell transplant, I needed to get my dental work settled. I had to get a root canal. As the root canal started, the nurse got a little exasperated and asked "do you have to breath like that? It's messing with the equipment" I was not aware I was doing it until she mentioned it. I still take a nice deep breath before a simple blood draw. Thanks for your many great articles.
Pranyama!
Thank you for this wonderful article ... and all the others you have written over the years. They are informative and amusing.
I want to chime in on what Denis said about the breathing during a bone marrow biopsy.
When I have my bone marrow biospy, if i get my breathing in time with the draw, I don't feel a thing. But if I miss time my breathing, then I get that sharp pain of the draw. So, needless to say, I work on getting my breathing right.
Really enjoyed the article.
marvin
Great column, Sean!
Back in May I was thinking that if I were writing a monthly column for The Beacon, that month it would have to be about breathing. Since I don't write a monthly column, you scooped me.
Around that time, as a new retiree, I started taking trombone lessons, and my teacher emphasizes the importance of breathing technique, just as your trumpet teacher did. Also around then, I started taking yoga lessons with my wife and, of course, breathing is important there too. And I continue to need to receive pentamidine treatment monthly, which I breathe in under a well-ventilated tent. Lots of breathing stuff.
My next bone marrow biopsy is coming up in a couple of weeks, so I'll be trying Mr. H's breathing techniques then!
Thanks for another excellent column.
Breathing is an excellent tool but mention of bone marrow procedures always reminds me of one of my favorite patients we met in the waiting room. It was her first bone marrow procedure and she admitted to being a bit concerned. She related how she had fortified herself with a few glasses of wine, two oxycodone tables, was sucking on her second fentanyl LollyPop and opined how she was not as concerned as she had been. I've always wondered how she prepared for her second procedure.
Ah, Sean ... excellent article. My first biopsy, I was a wreck and very spontaneously started the breathing exercises learned in childbirth classes - my onc (a woman) recognized them and now she encourages all her patients who know "lamaze breathing" to practice while she's doing her thing. Yoga is also an excellent way to practice the deep breathing that not only calms, but provides a focus away from the giant needle - helping to reduce the nerves. Thanks for the reminder!
Hi Sean,
Another awesome article! You reminded me of my adolescent voice lessons, where breathing was a new skill that I learned as well. While I haven't had to practice breathing during my own bone marrow aspiration, I can tell you that I was practicing it (and trying to keep it together) from the waiting room while my husband had each of his procedures. It turns out that it helps caregivers too! Here's to good health, good breathing, and good reminders!
Keep strong!
Tabitha