One Step Up; Two Steps Down

Wednesday, August 31, 2022

8:59 PM

I’m sorry to report my breathing is declining. The past couple of days since being off the Airvo machine, I have been experiencing a rapid loss of breath with the simplest of movements, like getting up out of bed or crossing the room. I still recover my oxygen level within a minute or two, but how quickly I become breathless is worrisome.

By comparison, when I was on home oxygen, I was getting 3.5 L/min when at rest and 4.5 or 5 L when moving around. Now I am on 8 L when at rest and 10 L for anything strenuous (for me that is). These levels would keep my blood oxygen levels at or above 90% with small dips down into the eighties.

Going to the bathroom in the middle of last night had me drop down to 67%, which is very low. I recovered to above ninety in about a couple of minutes, but I was truly gasping for air being that low.

I had hoped that the pneumonia antibiotic and increased prednisone might help me lower the oxygen, but today I’m feeling less optimistic.

I can’t believe I missed so much summer to deal with this shit. That’s not to say I haven’t had some good times this summer. Any time at Lakeside is time well spent. But I have been in hospital for a total of a half a month. Summers are already short enough on PEI.

Thanks to all the good thoughts and kindnesses I‘ve received from you. It’s helping.

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