Archive for Medical
December 15th, 2006
Well I had the Pulmonary function test this morning and the one bright thing I read on the report was in the technician notes: “Patient was very cooperative/ tried hard“.
I did not get a copy of the report 3 years ago, so I was in the dark as what it would say, so I went and searched for an interpretation of the results and as expected it was not that comforting at all.
Predicted results are based on sex, age, height, weight, race, and if smoker then how long.
The computer gives its impression of the results and this is what it thought.:
“Expiratory flows of 55% of predicted indicate moderate obstructive lung disease. Obstructive disease confirmed by increase in residual volume of 210% of predicted. Obstructive disease confirmed by increase in total lung capacity to 123% of predicted. Marked decrease in pulmonary diffusing capacity to 24% of predicted indicates loss of functioning alveolar-capillary membrane units (which in the presence of obstructive lung disease suggests emphysema). After Bronchodilator, values are essentially unchanged“.
In my layman’s interpretation of the results it looks like that the emphysema has progressed in the last 3 years and that’s why I am having these periods of shortness of breath and it is not from any problems with my heart..
I will see the doctor on the 27th and go from there…
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December 14th, 2006
Back in Nov 2003 I became a member of the ‘zipper club’ (bou’s word for people who have had by pass surgery). I only had one area that was considered to qualify as being in need of correction to improve the blood flow, the bad thing was the location of the blockage just happened to be in the one area where inserting a stent or using a balloon to open was not an option.
During all the tests that went on leading up to the surgery I was diagnosed with emphysema which is “a chronic, irreversible disease of the lungs characterized by abnormal enlargement of air spaces in the lungs accompanied by destruction of the tissue lining the walls of the air spaces”.
Before I had the surgery I seemed to not have any breathing problems, but of course since I had retired I became a lazy person, which means I was not as active as I used to be. I have never been one to do any physical fitness regimes to maintain my health, but I was active in a sport that required a lot of running which I enjoyed doing. That time has passed and in the last ten years I went from going 90 mph to around 30 mph with exercise.
During the last 3 years I have been taking some meds to make my breathing a little easier but slowly they have been loosing their effectiveness. Now I have 2 or 3 days in a row where breathing is difficult and then I may go for 4 or 5 days with no problems. My doctor has scheduled me for a PFT on friday at 11:00 am.
I call this the “Huff and Puff” test (thats not me in photo, just an example of whats done). The Pulmonary Function tests are a series of tests used to measure lung capacity, lung and chest wall mechanics to determine whether or not the patient has a lung problem.
The tests try to determine the following:
1. Screening for the presence of obstructive and restrictive diseases.
2. Evaluating a patient’s suitability for weaning from a ventilator.
3. Documenting the progression of restrictive or obstructive pulmonary disease.
4. Determining whether therapeutic intervention would be effective.
5. Evaluating patients prior to surgery, particularly patients who are: older than 60-65 years of age; known to have pulmonary disease; are obese; have a history of smoking, coughs or wheezing; will be under anesthetic for a lengthy period or who are undergoing an abdominal or a thoracic operation.
It works by breathing through a tube connected to a recording machine, the patient takes a deep breath in and blows out as quickly as possible. The results are recorded and analyzed. The tests can be performed before and after the use of medications.
The tests can show the following:
1. The amount of air your lungs can hold (total lung capacity)
2. How quickly you move the air in and out (forced expiratory volume)
3. How well your lungs can transfer oxygen from the air into your blood (arterial blood gas)
4. The response of your lungs to medications.
The Dr said that by doing this test and having showing that the emphysema had advanced and that was the problem with the breathing difficulties then a change of meds would be applied to ease the problem , if not then he said we would look at my heart and put me on a treadmill and see what that discloses.
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I am hoping that I don’t have to do the treadmill as I don’t want to have to do all the heart testing crap again and find out that in the last 3 years some of my arteries have started being blocked and thats what’s causing my breathing problems.
I know that my future is not going to be one of a lot of activity, but I know that the day will come when I have to be put on oxygen to assist my breathing. It’s hard to explain to my daughter 2 sons why I can’t play ball with them like I used to, guess I might be a example for them to live a eat right, exercise, no booze, and stay smoke free lifestyle.
The one thing that bugs me is other than the emphysema problem, I am healthy as can be, the cholesterol is way below 200, weight is right for my body, and have only been in a hospital back in 1963 to have my appendix removed and the rest of the time since then I was never sick…
As Dax would say, Just Damn…
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October 10th, 2005
Like the song “Happy Days are Here Again“, thats how I felt after leaving the DR’s office around 11:30 this morning.
Bottom line is the problem I described in this post was not a bad as I was thinking it was, the DR said that if I was not experiencing any symptoms of suffering from a TIA (transient ischemic attack) there was no reason to worry. He wanted me to start taking 10mg Lipitor to keep my LDL cholesterol under control (I think it was 123).
So now I feel a lot better as I won’t have to worry about having a big ole stroke in public and scaring everyone.
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October 8th, 2005
I wrote about having a sonogram done on my neck and was waiting to hear the results.
Well now I know that all my blood work shows all of the tests results to be in the good or normal range, and then I got hit right between the eyes with the statement that both of my carotid arteries were 60% to 79% filled with plaque. My doctor has scheduled a visit on monday to see a specialist, I have all the radiology results to take with me for the doctor to review.
I checked on WebMD to see what procedures were used to reduce the buildup in carotid arteries and found there are 2 ways, the easiest is the same procedure used to breakup blockage in the heart such as placing a stent or using a balloon to enlarge the artery. Then there is surgery called endarterectomy where they go in just back of your jaw and do a “by-pass” using a vein taken from your leg.
I had to have by-pass surgery in Nov 2003 only because the one blockage I had was in the one area where the could not use a balloon or stent. I hardly had any pain after that surgery, mostly it was discomfort waiting for my chest to heal and in my leg where the vein was removed from.
Now this is what pisses me off, my cholesterol is 185 which is supposed to be a good reading for anyone.
I have never seen this doctor and so I am going to have a long discussion with him on all the options open to me and I will choose the one that makes me feel the most comfortable.
Needless to say I am not in a very good mood……
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September 29th, 2005
I had my sonogram this afternoon, I won’t know the results till next week when the Dr calls.
One thing that fascinates me is how far technology has advanced in the medical field, just being able to look inside your body and seeing an artery pulse from a heart beat along with hearing the sound it makes. I was looking at the monitor when the tech was doing my left side and I thought I saw a narrowing in one area, but I am not trained to interpret such information and will wait for the professional diagnosis.
Also I had to go to the lab for a withdrawal of blood and to pee in a cup, the blood test is to check to see if I have any thing else wrong but I don’t know what they will do with the other sample I left.
I love being an old fogey……..
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September 28th, 2005
Went to the DR for a update on my status, since I was diagnosed with emphysema 2 years ago.
My breathing is ok as long as I am inside where it is not hot and humid, so I am wating for fall (sub 80 degs) to arrive.
He was listening to my lungs and then checked my carotid arteries and said he heard some noise on the left side, so I gotta go have a sonogram on my neck tomorrow to see if it has any blockage. He said if it was under 90% blocked that was ok, if more then something will have to be done.
We will see what needs to be done, if anything.
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October 10th, 2004
One year ago I started blogging about a major change in my life.
It started with
I started feeling some lite pressure in my chest along with a small amount of tingling or numbness in my fingers and toes, which lasted for around 10 to 15 mins. I started thinking that I just might be having a heart attack, but the symptoms went away and I felt ok.
This episode ended up with having by-pass surgery, because where I had blockage was in an area where they did not use the balloon or stent procedure.
Start of chronicles…..
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