Health update...

O

Ol' Arky

New member
Apr 24, 2014
1,835
Went to the pulmonary doctor today.... Had blood work and CT Scan of the lungs done 1st....

Good news and bad news...

Good news.... The spot on my lung that wasn\'t cancer has decreased in size... Nothing else new on the CT Scan.... Blood work was within normal limits... Respiratory infection I\'ve been fighting since last winter seems to be finally gone...

Bad news.... Lung function has decreased from 50% to 39%.... Don\'t know why other that the respiratory infection I\'ve been fighting since back in the winter...

Added some new medication and hope it brings my lung function back up some.... Still on oxygen all the time... 2 LPM at rest... 3 LPM while doing anything and while sleeping... See him again in 2 months....

So we\'ll keep doing what we\'ve been doing and hope this new med does some good.... :upthumb: :upthumb: :upthumb:
 
overall sounds pretty good phil, good news. hows the other issues with falling goin.
 
Man Phil, I hope you can get your lung function back up with the new meds. Stay strong and good luck.
 
Hopefully with the infection gone the lungs will get stronger Phil! Hunting season is coming fast and there will be ducks and deer to shoot. :upthumb:
 
\"bnsafe\" said:
overall sounds pretty good phil, good news. hows the other issues with falling goin.
Click to expand...

I\'m about to get healed up from both the falls and so far no more have happened.... The kids flipped my mattress and put a bed rail on the side of the bed I was falling off of and with all that it\'s more uphill than downhill now.... Also I think I got rid of all the gorilla\'s I was having to fight and that might have help too...

\"F M\" said:
Hopefully with the infection gone the lungs will get stronger Phil! Hunting season is coming fast and there will be ducks and deer to shoot. :upthumb:
Click to expand...

Sept 10th is the 1st time I\'ll get to limber up the old duck gun for early teal season... That ain\'t long at all....

And thanks to each of ya for you prayers and support...

I know I\'m getting better it\'s just a long process... The lung function thing is what has the doc worried... So I gota find a way to work on that myself... Maybe run a few of the old wind sprints like we used to do during basketball practice when I was a kid.. :lol: :lol: :upthumb: :upthumb:
 
I forgot one thing and it\'s important... ;) ;)

I\'ve been trying to get a portable oxygen concentrator to replace the portable oxygen I have that uses small cylinders... The concentrator weighs 4.8 lbs and will last about 10 hrs on a full charged battery and will also work off a cigarette lighter charger or household wall outlet charger... The tank/regulator setup weighs about 6 lbs and will last about 5 hrs and you have to replace the cylinder....

Anyhow I\'m unable to change at this time to the consentrator, so I\'ll still have to carry extra oxygen cylinders when out and about for more than 5 hours.... :( :(

That means I have to carry a lot of little oxygen cylinders to the deer camp or find a place close to get them refilled... Duck hunting will be ok since I can carry several in the boat with no problem and the place I get them recharged is in the little shop walk where we meet to head out duck hunting... :upthumb: :upthumb:

As you can see I\'ve been hard at work trying to figure out how to hunt this fall.... :lol: :lol:
 
Thinking about you Phil and know you\'ll start doing better - a positive attitude is one of your biggest assets right now!!

What\'s good is you have a goal - duck camp and spending time with your family. All the reasons to get on the bike every day you can.
 
I\'m praying for you Phil. Hope the good Lord blesses you with better health. Keep up the good fight!
 
Praying for you, Phil.

after being on forums with you for so long, you\'re almost like my crazy Arkansas uncle. :)

it\'d be nice to swap lies over a campfire someday.

Get healthy, sir.

shane
 
I forgot one GOOD NEWS.... :shh: :shh:

I did the walk test which ain\'t much.... Walking from one end of the hall to the other and back 10 times... The hall ain\'t very long maybe 30 yards...

Any way after each \"lap\" they checked my SPO2 level.... Without any oxygen I was in the mid 80\' last winter but didn\'t get below 90 this time... So my oxygen saturation level went up a bit... :upthumb: :upthumb:

Believe it or now I am work to get to where I can at least hunt SOME this fall.... :lol: :lol:
 
Arky, that\'s GREAT news! Without any oxygen and in the 90s is super and you walked equivalent of 600 yards! Having gone through something similar with my Dad I have an idea of your challenges.

Will insurance or Medicare cover the cost of a portable concentrator?
 
\"Colorado Russ\" said:
Arky, that\'s GREAT news! Without any oxygen and in the 90s is super and you walked equivalent of 600 yards! Having gone through something similar with my Dad I have an idea of your challenges.

Will insurance or Medicare cover the cost of a portable concentrator?
Click to expand...

According to my doc that if this had been a medicare certification test I wouldn\'t qualify for any oxygen at all but because it was just a test for his benefit to see if I was progressing or digressing I would be able to stay on the oxygen I already have...

I know I RELY on oxygen 90% of the time right now... That\'s down from 100% back in December 2015... So I\'m getting better and glad for it... I wish and hope I can get to 00% reliance at all on oxygen but have been told that want happen... That doesn\'t mean I\'m not going to work to get there...

2 months, next appointment, from now I\'m sure we\'ll do the same thing.... My goal is to be better, no matter how much, in both lung capacity and oxygen saturation and that\'s what I\'m working at now... :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Now to answer your question... :D :D

I already own a oxygen concentrator home unit and portable small oxygen cylinder unit... I qualified for them several years ago... So I don\'t have to go through medicare or insurance unless I have to replace one of them... I\'m pretty sure I would qualify again since when I qualified back then it was with an overnight pulse oxygen monitor and I met the requirements then when I was doing a lot better than I am now...
 
Only reason I asked was I know how expensive those units are. My Dad carried around the small portable ones if away from the pickup. Had a big cylinder in the cab and he could barely get home concentrator hose off and walk to pickup(30 ft maybe) and get portable one going without being completely worn out.

You\'ve got about a month before teal season so take it easy but I bet you\'ll start seeing those small cylinders lasting a little longer as it gets closer!
 
I\'ve got \"A PLAN\".... :mrgreen: :mrgreen: I\'m not near as bad as your dad and plan on being a little better then than now.... :upthumb: :upthumb:

During early teal season I know I\'ll have to hunt from our boat... The smallest cylinders I have are 6 cu.ft of oxygen and I have a couple of larger 24 cu. ft. cylinders... During both duck seasons I plan on having a 24 cu. ft. cylinder in the boat and truck and a couple of the 6 cu. ft. cylinders for my little carrying pouch... The 6 cu. ft. cylinders last me right now about 5 hrs so I should have plenty for a morning of hunting... The place I get my cylinders refilled is where we all meet to go to were we are hunting that day... So no problem with that... :upthumb: :upthumb:

Deer season is a bit more of a problem since the deer camp is a bit of an hour from my cylinder refill place... I haven\'t got that one figured out yet but bet I will before they roll around... :D :D

This is were we hunt early teal so I should be ok in the boat with the lily\'s for cover...

 
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