Terry Moriarty

Now that my city has opened up, I thought I’d check my POC vendor’s COVID-19 guidance. I use an Inogen One G2. Their FAQs page says it does NOT filter out the virus droplets, but didn’t say not to use it. Gives instructions about sanitizing it, but no usage precautions. So I called and the CSR checked their FAQs and agreed that their POCs…[Read more]

I had one funny experience when there around words. Probably have to be from US to really experience. I was at my favorite pub for fish and chips. Something I did atleast weekly. This time, there was a group of 6 guys celebrating at a nearby table. One of them called out to me “Hey, unk., Hey, unk”. I ignored him. “Hey, unk” I heard again.…[Read more]

I lived in Australia for 18 months. I really miss it. I didn’t realize that, like the US, there are different accents across the various regions of Australia. Some, I really couldn’t understand. It was really funny at times as I tried to figure out what someone was telling me because we couldn’t understand each other’s accents. Had the same…[Read more]

Last year, the people went after the California poppies that grow wild on the side of some of the freeways. They actually shut down some of the freeways trying to take pictures. I’ve lived in California all my life and don’t remeber anything like that before. We humans have such a herd mentality.

I have a small clump of daffodils that come up…[Read more]

I was too late. They closed Yosemite completely this morning. Most of our other national parks have closed all the facilities but left the roads and trails open. But completely shutdown Yosemite. Oh well. I can also drive to the beach. Being Northern California, there are a lot of more secluded beaches where there won’t be a lot, if any people.…[Read more]

I live in a fairly small North-eastern California county of 385,000. About half of that population resides in the city where I live. The first person to die in the US of COVID-19 was in a hospital here. So the virus is really, real here. However, the county has only 26 cases (up from 19 last week) and the 1 death.

With these numbers, I can…[Read more]

This just really became real for me. The first California death was at a hospital in my city. I cancelled my mani/pedi tomorrow, but have my annual CT scan scheduled for Monday (at a different hospital). My RN daughter-in-law says to cancel it. Have a message into my pulmonary doctor for advice. It’s so hard to get appointments here. Finally, my…[Read more]

I’ve been monitoring very closely since I live 60 miles from Travis Airforce Base and UC Davis Medical Center, where they transferred the first community-transmitted patient, is only 20 miles away. But no cases reported here.

I’m more concerned about my son who lives near the outbreaks in Washington. I’m retired and can stay in if I need to, but…[Read more]

I take that nasal spray for a runny nose caused by my lung condition. I have Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis, not IPF. But once I progressed to fibrosis, there’s not much difference in dealing with the symptoms or side effects. At this point, drug treatment for HP is different from IPF. I’ve gone through all the symptoms and side effects of ILDs in…[Read more]

Forget PC. I think we should print up Tshirts with these slogans. With an added sentence of Donate to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation.

Is it possible to post the transcripts of the podcasts? I don’t absorb the details from listening to an article being read. I need to read and possibly reread it several times for the information to “sink in”.  Thanks.

Everyone should watch the movie “That Sugar Movie” on Amazon. Watching that will reinforce the desire to eliminate processed sugar.

I’ll share my story. I was diagnosed with Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis in 2007 and went chronic (fibrosis) in 2011 and went on oxygen. Since I lived in California and worked in Washington DC, I got a POC for my…[Read more]

There is a small,soft plastic, I guess, ring that goes on the thumb. I’ve read that the thumb is the best place to measure oxygen levels and may explain why there are occasionally difference from finger oxymeters. It has a flexible cord that connects to the fitbit-like device on your wrist. I wear it on my left hand. Don’t notice at all. The big…[Read more]

I’ve been wearing the O2 Vibe O2 meter for about 4 months. It does O2 levels, heart rate and steps. Since this is on your wrist, it’s counting hand movements. Pretty much like all fitbits. Haven’t tried carrying in my pocket to see if it gets more accurate.

O2 level accuracy is pretty good. Have compared it with finger meter and they are usually…[Read more]

Hi Marsha,

I got my Inogen 1 G 2 in 2012.  It was my life saver. I worked bi-coastal and racked up alot of air miles with that POC. Unfortunately, I didn’t understand that lpms and pulse rates weren’t the same thing. My lpm needs increased and I was still using the POC. That contributed to the exacerbation I suffered in early 2018. At that time,…[Read more]

My DLCO has been in the 25 – 35% since I went on oxygen in 2012. In early 2018, it dropped to 19%. I’ve lost 40 lbs. since then, in addition to the 100 lbs already lost since  going off prednisone in 2014. FVC and TLC improved, but DLCO remained low. I know what DLCO measures (oxygen carbon dioxide diffusion), but I haven’t been able to find out…[Read more]

DLCO = carbon monoxide diffusing capacity. It is a measure of oxygen/ carbon monoxide exchange through the lung walls. My score of 19% is considered to be extremely low.

LPMs = liters per minutes for oxygen. I’ve been on oxygen for 7 years. My prescription is now 6 lpms, however, at my last 6 minute walk I used my portable oxygen concentrator at…[Read more]

Has anyone using laser therapy seen improvement in their PFT DLCO percentage?

I’ve been waiting on making the decision on laser therapy because I started a medically supervised weightloss program in October. I wanted to see if there were improvements from that before starting something else. I’ve lost 50 lbs. so far and have seen lots of…[Read more]