Thursday 4th July - My Oxygenated Life

 Depending on when you read this you might still have time to vote.... the polls close at at  10pm...

At yesterday's pulmonary rehab gym session I was asked if I minded doing the final assessment today, a bit early as I still have one gyj session left. So I said yes (might as well get it over, I thought).

It went well, and I think we are all agreed on how I should manage the use of supplemental oxygen in the future. (In other words, pretty much as I was doing before everything got turned inside out by the rehab team).

The main difference is that I am officially prescribed 6 l/m for walking, whatever I need when I am doing anything that makes me short of breath, and, most importantly for my happiness and energy levels, it is OK to use oxygen at 1 l/m, or even 2, to fetch my levels up when I am very low, like below 83%. 

My oxygen levels will in fact go down to below 80% just from walking from the bedroom to the stairs, coming downstairs on  the stair lift and walking to the settee. It will be so much easier, more comfortable and, I'm sure, safer, to boost my recovery using oxygen. It reduces the time from about 10-15 minutes careful,  focused breathing to a far more relaxed 5 mins or less. The same thing happens when I want to go upstairs to the loo.

I have been getting so tired from 'breathing myself up' four or five times during the day that I've been ready for bed by half past eight!

So I am a very happy bunny.

They are thrilled with the increase in my walking endurance test, 80m at the beginning of the course and 180m at the end. The usual increase is about 30 or 40 m. I'm less impressed; the first figure is without extra oxygen, the second is with 9 - nine! l/m... so not a fair comparison!

All I all the course has feen very beneficial and I will carry on with the exercises at home - at least for a while!