Boy! Have I been busy! Pulmonary Rehab 3X a week, Pilates, Zumba, Strength Training, and of course, 2 jobs to pay for it all! Things are going well with Pulmonary Rehab. I learned about cardio and how to balance that with Oxygen Saturation. They run me through a cardio warmup while monitoring my pulse, blood pressure and Oxygen level The goal is to get the heart rate up while keeping the Oxygen above 90%. Believe it or not, it’s tricky! Cardio isn’t the heart jumping out of your chest kind. They’ve been edging up a little at a time speed walking on the treadmill and a sort of sitdown elliptical called NuStep The goal is endurance – not speed!
Likewise, with weightlifting, the goal has to be reps, not increased weights. Again, think endurance – not strength! Muscle mass is really an inconsequential happy side effect of weightlifting. This is the Exact opposite of personal training mentality!
Meanwhile, They are working on stretching and balance. Stretching, of course, increases flexibility which in and of itself is a great thing! But it also helps in other, less obvious ways. It increases blood flow to the muscles and blood flow brings oxygen. That keeps the CO2/Oxygen mix in your arms and legs more oxygenated. It helps relieve the weak, lethargic wet spaghetti feeling that chronic CO2 toxicity causes in COPDers.
I’ve also learned more about those very important Pulmonary Function Tests and how to read the reports. These test look so complicated and neither the nurses or the doctors take the time to Explain them to the patient. Basic COPD information will tell you that the number most reflective of lung capacity is called FEV1%. The severity of disease is measured by the GOLD Standard. My FEV1% approximates 60% which classifies my illness as moderately obstructive. BUT remember that one size does not fit all! Folks with moderate or even 60% lung capacity don’t necessarily have the same or even similar symptoms!
Pulmonary Function Tests have 3 components:
(1) Spirometry
(2) Lung Volume
(3) Diffusion Capacity
All these measurements are based on factors of age, gender, and height. Thus the use of percentage as a final number.
By Examining all 3 of these tests together, your doctor and pulmonologist can tell specifics about what kinds of obstruction are taking place and rule out other possibilities such as pulmonary hypertention, anemia, pulmonary hemorrhage, and interstitial lung disease.
Another important test is called an arterial blood gas test. This test measures your pH, Co2 and Oxygen that actually occurs in your artery before they enter body tissue. It not only checks for the severity of disease but can tell the doctors whether your medication is working sufficiently as well as whether oxygen therapy makes sense. Respiratory acidosis occurs when your lungs do not properly eliminate the carbon dioxide (CO2). When CO2 builds up in your blood, it becomes more acidic. Thus the importance of pH levels.
If you find this information confusing, you are not alone! Yet, it’s very helpful for you and me to be the leader of our Health Team! After all, it’s our bodies – our lives! Here’s a Youtube Video that I found that takes you step by step through the test results and shows you what all those littlle spirometry graphs mean.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TApeMJ-rkc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNDKD_xI684
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nQApZ8Q0XM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_oRQS2dnck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mZmpHycSuQ
Well, this is getting kind of long so I’d best quit for now and wish everybody easy breathing!
And don’t forget, only by Smoking Cessation will anything get better for you when you have COPD!
