Actor/Comedian Robert Klein Shares His Own COPD Experience

Funny man Robert Klein has been giving us “laughter as the best medicine” for years. Yet, these days he’s more serious about a different type of medicine—the treatments for his chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

For decades he has entertained us with the gift of his stand-up comedy, HBO specials and many Broadway, television and movie roles. But now Klein has something more serious and personal to share. As the spokesperson for the new “Rethink COPD” campaign, the 67-year-old comedian/actor is sharing his own COPD experience and asking others to “rethink” theirs.

“The idea is to get people who suspect that they may have this, particularly if they have been a smoker, even if they have stopped smoking, and those that have been diagnosed, to access all the information they can,” Klein says to the COPD Digest. “In this case, ignorance is not bliss.”

Klein explains, in a motivating video on the campaign’s website, www.retinkcopd.com, that prior to his diagnosis he had never heard of COPD. Having his doctor explain to him that he would have to deal with COPD for the rest of his life “was a jolting experience.” He admits that he, the joker, “wasn’t laughing anymore.”

Klein’s COPD was discovered by his doctor, a long time friend and pulmonologist, during a routine check-up. His doctor was concerned about Klein’s chronic cough and insisted that he take a spirometry test. He then explained to Klein that he was “impaired.” Specifically, that there was permanent damage to his lungs that was not curable but was treatable.

“The word ‘permanent’ certainly made a permanent impression on me,” Klein shares.

Klein’s chronic bronchitis is the result of years of smoking and performing comedy in countless smoke-filled clubs through the decades. He first started smoking at age 15 at his all boys’ high school in the Bronx. “I knew it was bad, but it was common. Everybody smoked.”

Klein quit smoking the first time at the insistence of his voice coach. “He said in his big, booming voice, ‘Mr. Klein, you must stop smoking!’ ” Klein laughs. “He gave me a 35-cent book, ‘How to Stop Smoking.’ It was very helpful. I went back to it many times.” Yet the last and final time he quit smoking, Klein admits the book was becoming a little dated. “The book actually asked the question, ‘Aren’t you tired of paying 35 cents a pack for cigarettes!” Klein jokes.

“I have probably stopped smoking four major times but the final ‘spasm’ was just a brief flirtation with cigars 15 years ago,” he explains. “The addiction is wacky. It is incredibly addictive. And it is obvious that people know it is a very hard thing to quit. But it IS doable if you care enough.”

After his diagnosis, like many patients, Klein had a lot to learn about COPD and the spirometry test used to diagnose it. “I remember stressing to my doctor that I could swim back and forth in a pool, underwater, without taking a breath,” he recalls, laughing. “But that is not it. That’s ‘vital capacity’ which has nothing to do with it. It’s how much air you can expel that counts.”

Today, Klein is passionate about spirometry. “Anybody that smokes and coughs should have a spirometry test,” he stresses. “You should know if there is some sort of apparent deterioration to your breathing apparatus. It’s important to know. There is much that can be done to alleviate symptoms and live a more comfortable life.”

Accessing resources and treatment to improve quality of life is a key theme of the “Rethink” campaign which is sponsored by Astra Zeneca.

And as a former smoker who struggled to quit, Klein understands the barriers many COPD patients must overcome before they can begin improving their lives. “There is a lot of baggage that comes with being a smoker in today’s world. And that is probably as it should be. But there is a tension between doctors and patients with respect to smoking. People are afraid of being lectured. They don’t want to feel stupid. And they know they are doing something to themselves that is not good for them,” Klein explains.

“But the fact is they can get some help even while they are smoking with the intent to stop,” he stresses. “That can be a major psychological help. They need to know they can come in and get help.”

The “Rethink COPD” campaign is not Klein’s first time speaking publicly about his COPD. Several years ago he participated in another national COPD awareness campaign.

“Strangely or maybe sadly, in the several years since my first COPD speaking engagements, I don’t know that much more recognition has been given to COPD,” Klein says. “It can be traced as the 4^th largest killer in the U.S. and yet it is getting so little attention.”

“At ‘RethinkCOPD.com’ we’re trying to get people to reference information. It’s a general orientation campaign,” he explains. “We want to give people information and hope.”

The RethinkCOPD.com website asks visitors to consider if their COPD is keeping them from doing things they want and need to do. If so, the site urges, patients should “rethink” their approach to managing their COPD.

“The idea is that someone shouldn’t be hit in the head with the news way down the line that they have something that they could have been treating,” he stresses. “There are people, whose daily life is impaired by walking a block or two or walking up a flight of stairs and they don’t really pay attention to it. They put it off to this and that. But it’s good to check this out. Psychologically it can be very comforting to realize that there are things in existence, invented by meaningful science and scientists, which can help you breathe easier. It’s a very comforting thing.”

The Rethink website provides an explanation of COPD, what it is and its symptoms while also encouraging healthy lifestyle changes such as exercise, a healthy diet and of course smoking cessation—the same things that Klein credits as keys to his continued success at managing his COPD.

“I’ve exercised forever. When my trainer isn’t available I do it on my own and I have for over 20 years,” he stresses. “And I take my medicine religiously. My doctor has shown me, through the spirometry test, what a difference the meds can make.”

And is it working? “I’m doing great and feeling fine,” he says.

And he is certainly not letting his COPD keep him from doing what he loves. Klein just finished a movie with Jennifer Lopez, “The Back-up Plan” due out in January 2010. He is working on his 9^th HBO special that will be taped in spring of 2010 (he taped his first in 1975). He can also be seen on episodes of Law and Order playing the role of a defense attorney.

“For me, laughter is still my favorite thing. I can still get out there and work for an hour and 20 minutes in front of an audience and feel great . . . so, life is good.” n

[CALLOUT BOX]

“I am one of the millions of people like you living with COPD. I encourage you to take action today so you can breathe easier.” -Robert Klein