Fatigue & Vent & Oxygen

[Joey_SF]

My Dad came home from the hospital about two weeks ago (this time, he completed the full round of antibiotics) - O sats are 98 (fluc 99, 97, and even 100) on room air.

When bringing him home, the ambulance folks again left him outside in the cold. His temp dropped -- but he was still very alert for a few days and then, he felt like he had a cold.
His O sats dropped -- with some cold medicine and sleep and some O, he was fine in a few days.

Then.... yesterday, his O sats dropped below 90 - no temp, lungs sound fine (checked by nurse) -- my Dad says that he feels fine and then, suddenly he's having a difficult time breathing.

Here's the wierd thing... I'll give him O and his O sats recover, hitting 99-100 -- and I'll lower or disconnect the O... then his O will drop again. In other words, it's not a gradual decline, he'll have great O sats and then, the O sats dip below 90.

My Dad now says that he feels congested.

The nurse says to just keep him on oxygen until she gets back in a few days to do a blood draw... which I asked the doctor to order.

I don't really like the idea of 'keeping him on oxygen' -- since I'd rather figure out what's wrong. The nurse has encouraged the frequent administering of oxygen and says that there's nothing harmful in giving O -- I've preferred to do percussion, turning, exercising... more natural healthier ways to get my Dad's O up... the O is very 'cold' and my guess is that this cannot be good form my Dad.

Any feedback ? I'd appreciate it.

[Knight's Wife]

There's no harm to being on the oxygen, lots of people are.
My husband gets O2 overnight through his bipap every night. The idea being that then he doesn't have to work so hard to breathe and gets good O2 overnight w/o effort. During the day he doesn't usually use it, but its available if needed. We've been told if he gets short of breath, difficult, light headed, whatever we can give O2.

[smashms]

Why mess with his o if his says are great on it? My feeling is that because you don't want him on o2 you are putting him in danger of not having enough oxygen. KEEP IT ON HIM, you should start to worry if he is on o2 and then his sats drop, he obviously needs it if he drops when you have either turned it down or off. Stop playing with it if the nurse has put it on him. As the pervious poster has said there is no harm in keeping him on o2 it actually helps him. This for me is a no brainer he needs the o2. By you taking it off of him you are actually doing more harm. Let the nurses do their job they know what they are doing you don't.

[Joey_SF]

My Dad has had strong O sats, without being on oxygen.

1) Previously, his sats would drop (with the accompanying temp change and/or noisy lungs) -- and, this was indicative of pneumonia.

Thank goodness for the SCI nurse on the CareCure Forum.

2) Earlier in the month, his sats dropped for less than 24 hrs or so due to a cold.

3) Now, it's been for three days -- so, the sudden drop from strong sats is a new phenomena. His temp has changed for the past 24 hrs.

Reason for my concern -- the drop is usually indicative of something being wrong... and I'm really worried about another round of pneumonia.

No offense to nurses (they're definitely not all equal) -- but, my Dad has had a bunch of health professionals who don't give good advice (euphemism).

[smashms]

Originally Posted by Joey_SF

My Dad has had strong O sats, without being on oxygen.

1) Previously, his sats would drop (with the accompanying temp change and/or noisy lungs) -- and, this was indicative of pneumonia.

Thank goodness for the SCI nurse on the CareCure Forum.

2) Earlier in the month, his sats dropped for less than 24 hrs or so due to a cold.

3) Now, it's been for three days -- so, the sudden drop from strong sats is a new phenomena. His temp has changed for the past 24 hrs.

Reason for my concern -- the drop is usually indicative of something being wrong... and I'm really worried about another round of pneumonia.

No offense to nurses (they're definitely not all equal) -- but, my Dad has had a bunch of health professionals who don't give good advice (euphemism).

Keep him on the o2 anyway and get him to a doctor who specializes in SCI which you have been told to do numerous times. You are in the SF area right there are lots of them right near you.

[Joey_SF]

Ashleigh,

I am dismally sad that it's not as easy as it seems.

Unfortunately, my Dad's insurance "locks" him into a certain set of doctors and though they are not "experts," they "pretend" to be and the insurance company will support them (and there are other issues as well). In other words, my Dad does not have easy access to SCI specialists unless I pay out of pocket.

But, I'm hoping to change this.

[Scaper1]

Joey, how is your dad doing?

[smashms]

Originally Posted by Joey_SF

Ashleigh,

I am dismally sad that it's not as easy as it seems.

Unfortunately, my Dad's insurance "locks" him into a certain set of doctors and though they are not "experts," they "pretend" to be and the insurance company will support them (and there are other issues as well). In other words, my Dad does not have easy access to SCI specialists unless I pay out of pocket.

But, I'm hoping to change this.

This is so sad to hear, I am sorry Joey.

[BillMiller823]

Joey, were you able to acquire a CoughAssist for your Dad?

That can help significantly. Vitamin D3 gels also help with my energy. I take THESE.

(If you already mentioned before that you got a CoughAssist, I apologize, I haven't kept up with all your threads.)

[Joey_SF]

Hey Bill,

Last week, we finally got a cough assist for my Dad. But, I'm a bit nervous since the RT mentioned that Medicare may not cover it.

Btw, what are your settings?

I also ordered the Vitamin D3 gels -- my Dad found them very helpful.

Any other great tips for supplements?