@farmerman,
farmerman wrote:
yeh. When you have a sickness with presentation similar to the "plague du joure" you get prepared. We bought one of those O2 sensors that you clip on your finger. My wife was the "canary" because with my medication, Metoprolol succinate my O2 saturation is about < 94% when it should be >96%. It keeps my heart rate rather slow so whenI xercise or walk, I dont take up O2 like normal. Hers was always 97 or 98% sat>
In covid , "Silent hypoxia" is a side symptom that has been used as an indicator for using ventilation (Actually just serving upO2 without intubation seems more realistic to me). I understand that now the hospitals have been re-considering ventilators. They are so intrusive and arent really needed.
An Oximeter, aka Oxygen Saturation Monitor should be something everyone owns.
Heh. Just looked online at Amazon and Ebay, and they have jumped on the train of gouging people to some extent or another on buying them.
Last year you could get a highly rated one for about $20, or less.
Now? $30, $40, $50 and higher. Crazy.
It is an excellent investment, not just for now, but any time.
Farmer, I'm sure you don't, but a sat of 94, especially if you're on a med that effects it.
It isn't until you're ill and it gets below 90 does it become a real cause for concern.
You know, with news now how there may have been COVID cases as early as Nov, Dec of 2019, it really makes me think.
I'll preface all this with saying it doesn't make a bit of difference in the world now, and there's no way to tell at this point, but it wouldn't shock me if Kirk actually had COVID and that's what did him in.
I also don't want to come across as wishful thinking or other emotion based "what if's"
I mean yeah, his lungs were shot, the guy was a mess in a lot of medical ways, but dig this...
He went through all the chemo and radiation for his lung cancer. Lost weight because the radiation was over his sternum and caused epsophagus burns and a lot of pain. But, when it was all over, right on schedule the burns started getting better, he started eating. When we went back after, I forget 2 or 3 weeks? to see how he did, both the oncologist and the radiologist said the results were much better than anticipated, and they were full steam ahead for starting immunotherapy.
Let's see. He got his first immunotherapy, no side effects. We saw the oncologist maybe 5 days after that, and we both told the dr he had developed this weird cough.
Dr listened to his lungs and said "You sound clear as a bell" His exact words. "But", he continued, go next door and get a chest exray, because we need to be proactive.
Through out all of this, before and during treatments, his O2 sats were fine. always 92 and above, I'd say half the time over 97.
First thing in the morning, on a Saturday, the doctor on call for oncology said he was looking at the Xrays, and saw "lung infiltrates" which he said meant, basically, pnuemonia. Not uncommon for Kirk. Dr said go to the ER so they could access, and he was calling ahead right now to have him admitted. Considering everything, they wanted to immediately as he said "Get ahead of this" This was Dec 21.
The point is, he was walking, talking, breathing with no problems. He walked out of the house with me feeling dandy. He never came home again.
Laughing and joking, getting hooked up to IV antibiotics, ordering double dinners because he was hungry. Looking forward to Christmas.
I think it was about 48 hours later that everything fell apart, like quickly, meaning like immediately. O2 levels always low, sometimes plummeting to "incompatible with life" levels, and all the rest of it that I've already written about.
So 21 days after his lungs when to hell in a handbasket, he was gone.
The doctors and staff were amazing. When I would talk with them, asking yet again, what was it that was causing this, all they could pinpoint was that his lungs were inflamed, nothing they were giving him was helping, etc. No cancer present. One ICU nurse told me "He's much worse than he looks" They all knew I wanted the straight story.
Anyway, like I said, it doesn't make any difference, but looking back from where we all are today. It does make me muse about it.
