Let The Testing Begin

We arrived at Duke about 7:00am this morning. Philip drove us straight through last night. We finally got away from the hospital in Jackson around 5:00pm Tuesday evening. Everything went well until we got to Oxford, AL and stopped so I could take a breathing treatment. The nice lady in the curb store set up a stool close to an outlet so I could plug in my compressor to take my medicine. I didn't realize at the time that my portable O2 tank was frozren up and I was not receiving any oxygen. When I did discover it, which didn't take long because I can feel my O2 drop, I panicked. I couldn't help myself. I ran to the bathroom gasping for air and trying to keep from wetting my pants. I know that isn't a pretty picture, but it is a reality when your body needs oxygen. I'm sitting there and Philip bursts into the bathroom, told me he was calling 911 because I was turning blue and really took care of business. He got the nice lady to call an ambulance and they came and rescued me with oxygen and an albuterol treatment. After forty five minutes and refusing to go to the local Oxford, AL hospital, we were back on the road. The medics were awesome. They did an excellent job. Philip was my hero. He remained calm, on the outside, and took care of me. I survived again. Whew! This is happening too much. I will be much more careful in the future, hopefully that won't be much longer and I won't need the O2 tanks anymore. Just another bump in my road of life on my way to get my miracle. God Is Great!

Oh These Crappy Lungs

Today ended up better than it started. Before I even got out of bed this morning, I could tell I was already going to be short of breath again today. Great, I was hoping to have a better day. I got up and did my normal morning routine, made it to the chair by the bed and my O2 saturation decides to drop and I start to panic so here we go. I called my mom to "do something", she says "what do you want me to do" I said "call somebody". Okay, nurses and respirtory get in there and get me calmed down and my O2 back up by blasting me with O2 using the face mask instead of the nose prong. Whew, I made it through another one, but it shot my nerves! I was edgy the rest of the day and had to keep a close eye on my O2 so late in the afternoon I decided I wanted something for my nerves and the headache and the pain in my back from being tensed up all day. After waiting a good hour, I finally got the meds and another hour later I was feeling relaxed. My breathing was deeper and I felt better, finally. Just another day with crappy lungs. Gosh I hope this isn't going to be something I have to deal with daily. I've never been one to like taking pills that alter my mind, but in this situation I'll take whatever I can to get me through this ordeal. I'll deal with rehab once I can breathe again, lol!

SOB - It doesn't stand for what you think ; )

I am still short of breath. After the incident Friday ( see post below), I can't seem to get my air back. I haven't had anymore panic attacks, but I am still tethered to the short O2 hose so I can't leave the bed much. I've had to wear the O2 face mask also. It helps me to get higher liters of O2 without drying my sinuses out so much. I can't stay on it too long though because I am what you call a CO2 retainer. That is, I breathe in oxygen and expel carbon dioxide like everyone else does, but with my crappy lungs I'm not able to expel the CO2 like a normal person. Mine builds up in my body and if it gets too high it can kill a person, so it is a delicate balance of O2 mask and O2 canula. I'm trying to stay positive, but sometimes this disease just makes me so damn mad! I was feeling really good and hoping to maybe go home for a while next week, but now I don't know what the outcome is going to be. Just Breathe!!!