Hi Everyone!
Just wanted to give an update on my dad! :) He has gradually been improving! (Mucinous BAC dx 2007).
We were battling a hard fight with extreme fatigue, crashes in the afternoon... which we're now attributing to his Prednisone. His cough was getting worse, decreased appetite, sweating, etc... He finally went on a few rounds of Levaquin and is turning around. His doctor went from last week telling him that he wasn't even sure when he could get back to work, if ever.. he asked if his work would even let him have oxygen there.... to THIS WEEK telling him how much better he looks and how much better his lungs sound.
According to his doc, the lesions leave cavitations that can get infected, so we're suspecting that he's been fighting off infection for a bit of time now. Praise God, his cough is clearing up, the amount of secretions he's bringing up is much much less, and the pressure in his lungs has cleared up as well!
He has been off of work for 3 weeks now and pretty much does a lot of sitting. He will walk to the bathroom to bed to his office etc, and does feel a little winded (with the o2 on). His o2 levels read at a good 94-95 on o2 when he's sitting, but when he walks it teeters from 89-90. He is very fixated on these numbers and they check him several times a day. His doctor never requested him to have a pulse/ox for home use, and if anything told him to get it so that he wouldn't panic that he wasn't getting enough air. He notices that once he takes his Prednisone and does the reading after walking around, it goes up in the early 90's...
I know anything in the 80's isn't good... however, I think he's so fixated on it now that it's almost doing him more harm knowing? I guess what numbers or symptoms do you look for that signify "danger" when it comes to your o2 sat levels..
Also now that he is turning around again, thankfully, his endurance is sooo very minimal now and we are trying to figure out what we can do to build him back up agai
Reply # - November 30, 2012, 03:58 PM
Reply To: How to regain stamina following infection…
We generally seek to keep the oxygen saturation numbers above about 88%, and preferably in the 90s. As you'd probably expect, the main symptom related to a low oxygen saturation is shortness of breath, especially with any exertion.
I'm glad to hear he's improving. I hope that continues for him!
-Dr. West
Reply # - December 1, 2012, 06:56 AM
Reply To: How to regain stamina following infection…
Hallo Carrie. I can't remember what happened with your father in the end - I remember a lot of discussion about BAC and pneumonia presenting in a similar way, but not the outcome. Could you do us a forum signature?
I have to say, as someone with breathing problems, that checking my oxygen levels all the time would drive me completely insane. My suggestions for regaining stamina post-infection include; breathing exercises (which will help your father recover a sense of control over his breathing and hence increase his confidence); physiotherapy (I cannot speak too highly of how it helped me post-pneumonia); very short walks outside the house, with someone to accompany/support him; setting small achievable goals (today I'm going to have a shower/see a friend/do something in the garden). And lots of reassurance from everyone around him that he is doing well.
It's very, very hard to adjust to not being able to breathe very well (said with feeling). The reason I would throw away the meter is that to some extent you have to try and ignore it. So I will try to do something (run for a bus for example) and get horribly breathless. But - although it's very unpleasant - being winded doesn't do me any damage, it just tells me the limits of what I can do at that particular moment - ie, no more running for buses! So your father will learn his limits only by experimenting - and he may be able to do more than he thinks he can. All best.