Monday, January 12, 2009

Good Air In - Bad Air Out

It has been exactly two years now since I was first in hospital due to respiratory problems with high CO2. The lungs taking in oxygen is critical to life. But just as critical, or maybe more so, is to get rid of the CO2. High CO2 can lead to the blood becoming more and more acidic causing organ shut down and death.

I had an appointment today at the hospital for a checkup with a respiratory specialist. While there I had an arterial blood gas test. It had been a year since my last test. This is different than a normal blood test which takes blood from a vein. The blood from an artery (in my wrist) is analyzed to determine oxygen and CO2 content and PH (acidity level.) Basically the results are that my CO2 is still under control. In fact he said my oxygen level is too high! He told me to cut in half the amount of supplemental oxygen I am using. If oxygen is too high the lungs think they don't need to get rid of the CO2. I don't need to go back for another test for a year.

All in all I am very thankful to God for my health today compared to two years ago.

4 comments:

BumbleBEEs FlyAnyway said...

Oh thank the Lord, that is wonderful news!!

and thank you for the kind words and spreading the word about my blog! I appreciate it, and pray the Lord may use it to bless folks! ;)

Anonymous said...

We are all sure thankful to God for your health, too, Uncle David!

Anonymous said...

Praise God! Love you.

The Blog Fodder said...

Don'know how I missed this blog. Am glad for the good news. Keep breathing.