Terry Moriarty

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]

9 pulse is about 5.5 lpm. That’s good. But isn’t pulling around 18 lbs. hard? How many hours do you get on a battery charge? Thanks

Thanks, Peter,

That is a good rehab video.

Hi Carol,

What brand of portable oxygen concentrator are you using? I didn’t know there were any that went to 5 liters/minute continuous. I use an Inogen One G2 and it only goes to pulse rate 6, which is equivalent to about 3.5 lpm. I now need 6 lpm on activity, so my portable is insufficient for my needs.

So I’d like to know about your…[Read more]

Hi John,

Oxygen levels are measured by an oximeter. You can easily get one from Amazon.  FEV1, FVC, TLC and DLCO are stats on a PFT. Your pulmonologist should go over these stats when reviewing your PFT. You should be able to get a copy of your PFT results from the lab that did the test. Only one place tried to charge for it. My Dr. handed me…[Read more]

I totally agree, Jack. There is no standard for the 6 minute walk. Like you, I’ve done many (8) over 12 years. Two tests were at different COEs. All but one just walked me around for 6 minutes or until my oxygen level dropped to 88. Then they restarted the test using more lpms. In only one case did they make a point of recording the…[Read more]

I agree we should move to email to plan the process. One person send out the initial email and we all do reply all to that. Could you be the central point for these emails, Charlene?

I don’t think the base spreadsheet with individual results be shares. Only the analysis Dr. Andy needs from it, such as average, mean and medium changes in collected…[Read more]

Someone gave a status report. budhenry jumped on that person, as expected. Someone else responded a bit harshly to budhenry and it was over. I don’t know who reported the thread to the Inspire administrator, but it’s unfortunate that they didn’t “reprimand” individual offenders, rather than punishing all of us.

Hopefully, those interested in this…[Read more]

I planned to assign a unique id to each person. Just a remnant of my database design career. It’s just what we automatically do <g>. Hard to break old habits.

A clarification about the 6 minute walk.

It’s primary purpose in the US is to determine how much oxygen a person needs. The test is done by starting with no oxygen. If the O2 level drops to 88%, the test is paused for the person to recover and get back to normal O2 level. Then the person is put on oxygen (usually 2 lpm) and the walk is repeated.…[Read more]

Hi all,

I’ve reached the point where I can’t read any of the organizational comments because I use a Surface tablet and the indentation the PF News website uses for replies eventually hides them from me.

I volunteered to collect all the responses and put them into a spreadsheet, primarily so we can analyze for trends across the group. There will…[Read more]