Maiqui Pineda bares lung disease caused by autoimmune illness, learns ‘how to breathe again’

Maiqui Pineda and Robi Domingo. Image: Instagram/@maiquip_

Maiqui Pineda, fiancée of TV host Robi Domingo, has been undergoing pulmonary rehabilitation program to help her learn “how to breathe again,” after she developed a lung disease caused by her rare autoimmune illness. 

Pineda disclosed that she has been diagnosed with some form of interstitial lung disease (ILD) which, according to Mayo Clinic, causes “progressive scarring of lung tissue” that “eventually affects [one’s] ability to breathe and get enough oxygen into [the] bloodstream.”

“Did you ever realize that we were never taught how to breathe? We all just came out of our mothers’ wombs and we just knew. So it was surreal for me that I had to enter a program that was teaching me how to breathe again,” she wrote on her blog on Monday, Oct. 16.

“One of the main treatments for [ILD] is a pulmonary rehabilitation program that would help improve my lung function… The standard program consists of 16 one-hour-long sessions usually done three times a week but I decided to continue it up to next year to be safe,” she continued.

Pineda gave an account of the breathing exercises and the workouts she does, admitting she had a difficult time during her first few sessions. She underscored that the program hasn’t been easy but that she has been able to power through because of hard work and discipline.

“I had to decide for myself that if I wanted to get better, I had to make sure I did what was needed. There are still days when I would get lazy but I try my best not to be complacent,” she said.

In a separate Instagram post, Pineda showed a compilation video which shows her improvements while undergoing the pulmonary rehabilitation program.

“Seeing my progress amazes me. I went from struggling to even stand up to doing squats with weights. It reminds me to keep going,” she captioned her post.

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Domingo and Pineda were four years into their relationship when they got engaged in 2022.

Pineda disclosed last August that she had been diagnosed with Dermatomyositis, a rare autoimmune disease that causes muscle weakness, inflammation and a skin rash.

While Pineda lamented how this year was supposed to be an “exciting year of wedding planning, preparing for a new home and working on [her] career,” Domingo said that their wedding will push through as scheduled as it gives her “something to hope for.”  /ra