I have for a few years now accepted the fact that COPD is a disability. Did I have an exercise plan? Sure -- I changed out the brown footballs in my bedbound Moms' diaper, did all the chores in the house, fixed her meals, ran grocery errands.
I suck on an Trelegy Ellipta inhaler every morning for the prescribed single hit. Since Moms died October 12, 2023, as much as to say after watching her deteriorate slowly over 8 years, I started walking a prescribed distance every day. Our street ends in a cul-de-sac on a hill that healthier senior here agree is a "real bitch". I took a hiatus from walking the hill for about 2 months. Then -- I resumed by driving down to a local park two miles from here, and walking three loops around the periphery for a total of 1.1 miles.
Yesterday, I earned 6 heart credits from Google Fit, when most of my morning miles get me between 0 and 2. But I always finish out my mile in less than 40 minutes. I have measurable "park-bench sit-down rest stops", "stand-up pauses" to lean on my walking stick. But I make breakthroughs -- yesterday was one.
Someone had suggested taking my blood-oxygen meter -- the little finger-thingie -- and consulting it when I walk.
How does the walk make me feel? I develop "labored breathing" -- somewhere between "at rest" and what I remember as a 30-year-old running daily miles 5x per week. "Dyspnea" is a sense of suffocation, but I don't experience dyspnea.
At rest in front of the TV, my BO reading is between 94 and 97 depending on the day, whether there's still sputum in my lungs waiting to be expectorated. They say that below 88 is "unhealthy", and I should use my Inogen oxygen concentrator -- nice with the fanny pack but still an encumbrance.
Here in So-Cal, the altitude of my home is somewhere between 800 and 1,000 feet above sea level. I try and visit my brother who lives east of Lake Tahoe in Gardnerville, NV, where the altitude is 5,000 +. Last year after Moms died, I visited for the TG holiday, and was alarmed to see that my BO was 88 while watching TV. Even my brother, who has milder COPD than mine, was at 92 reclining on the couch. And I noticed that just going to the bathroom or walking from the entertainment room to the toilet had me gasping for breath. That was November 2023. This year, I would wake up in the morning at my brother's house and my BO was 92-94. I didn't feel out of breath going to the bathroom or other movement within the house. I used the Inogen concentrator only one day, when we went to Walmart and I pushed the heavily-laden shopping cart up and down many aisles. Another day, Bro drove us to Sharkey's Casino and the 777 Restaurant for the Friday Prime-Rib dinner. I had to pause for a bit before we entered the smoke filled bar room with the slots. Made it back to the truck across the parking lot without any pauses.
So I went in yesterday to the med clinic after returning here from NV -- after I'd earned the six heart credits for a 1-mile walk. I was supposed to have a pulmonary function test, inhaling and blowing into a device -- done. Then, a "walk test" or walking for six minutes. A year ago, they made me tote bottled oxygen on two wheels, and given my daily regimen, I refused it this time. The nurse recorded my BO a few times over the six minutes, once as low as 85.
I told her to make a note of my refusal, but that I felt fine. when the BO would slip below 90 -- as it did -- it would bounce back to around 92 as I continued to walk.
As I said, my daily walks merely cause me to breath as I remember doing more vigorous exercise as a younger man, but I'm not getting dizzy, nor gasping for breath.
I really would rather continue doing my walks without strapping on my Inogen device. I don't think I'm injuring myself, or starving and killing brain cells. Am I starving and killing brain cells? It's getting to the point now that the 1-mile walk is almost comfortable, as one would have without COPD.
Am I "OK"? My pulmonologist and doctor do not insist on anything, but the pulmonologist suggested I could get more exercise using the concentrator. My doctor also suggested it, remarking something about "lactic acid". I think it would be easier to use my Medicare-provided "heavy-duty" concentrator while doing Tai-Chi on my carpeted floor.
I wish I had never smoked my first cigarette at age 17. No more wilderness hikes to 9,000 feet. No more jogging. No tennis doubles matches. I don't think I want to try swimming again. They say this condition is irreversible, but I've made great strides in lung capacity and endurance for the daily walks. But I curse the day I started smoking in my youth.
I suck on an Trelegy Ellipta inhaler every morning for the prescribed single hit. Since Moms died October 12, 2023, as much as to say after watching her deteriorate slowly over 8 years, I started walking a prescribed distance every day. Our street ends in a cul-de-sac on a hill that healthier senior here agree is a "real bitch". I took a hiatus from walking the hill for about 2 months. Then -- I resumed by driving down to a local park two miles from here, and walking three loops around the periphery for a total of 1.1 miles.
Yesterday, I earned 6 heart credits from Google Fit, when most of my morning miles get me between 0 and 2. But I always finish out my mile in less than 40 minutes. I have measurable "park-bench sit-down rest stops", "stand-up pauses" to lean on my walking stick. But I make breakthroughs -- yesterday was one.
Someone had suggested taking my blood-oxygen meter -- the little finger-thingie -- and consulting it when I walk.
How does the walk make me feel? I develop "labored breathing" -- somewhere between "at rest" and what I remember as a 30-year-old running daily miles 5x per week. "Dyspnea" is a sense of suffocation, but I don't experience dyspnea.
At rest in front of the TV, my BO reading is between 94 and 97 depending on the day, whether there's still sputum in my lungs waiting to be expectorated. They say that below 88 is "unhealthy", and I should use my Inogen oxygen concentrator -- nice with the fanny pack but still an encumbrance.
Here in So-Cal, the altitude of my home is somewhere between 800 and 1,000 feet above sea level. I try and visit my brother who lives east of Lake Tahoe in Gardnerville, NV, where the altitude is 5,000 +. Last year after Moms died, I visited for the TG holiday, and was alarmed to see that my BO was 88 while watching TV. Even my brother, who has milder COPD than mine, was at 92 reclining on the couch. And I noticed that just going to the bathroom or walking from the entertainment room to the toilet had me gasping for breath. That was November 2023. This year, I would wake up in the morning at my brother's house and my BO was 92-94. I didn't feel out of breath going to the bathroom or other movement within the house. I used the Inogen concentrator only one day, when we went to Walmart and I pushed the heavily-laden shopping cart up and down many aisles. Another day, Bro drove us to Sharkey's Casino and the 777 Restaurant for the Friday Prime-Rib dinner. I had to pause for a bit before we entered the smoke filled bar room with the slots. Made it back to the truck across the parking lot without any pauses.
So I went in yesterday to the med clinic after returning here from NV -- after I'd earned the six heart credits for a 1-mile walk. I was supposed to have a pulmonary function test, inhaling and blowing into a device -- done. Then, a "walk test" or walking for six minutes. A year ago, they made me tote bottled oxygen on two wheels, and given my daily regimen, I refused it this time. The nurse recorded my BO a few times over the six minutes, once as low as 85.
I told her to make a note of my refusal, but that I felt fine. when the BO would slip below 90 -- as it did -- it would bounce back to around 92 as I continued to walk.
As I said, my daily walks merely cause me to breath as I remember doing more vigorous exercise as a younger man, but I'm not getting dizzy, nor gasping for breath.
I really would rather continue doing my walks without strapping on my Inogen device. I don't think I'm injuring myself, or starving and killing brain cells. Am I starving and killing brain cells? It's getting to the point now that the 1-mile walk is almost comfortable, as one would have without COPD.
Am I "OK"? My pulmonologist and doctor do not insist on anything, but the pulmonologist suggested I could get more exercise using the concentrator. My doctor also suggested it, remarking something about "lactic acid". I think it would be easier to use my Medicare-provided "heavy-duty" concentrator while doing Tai-Chi on my carpeted floor.
I wish I had never smoked my first cigarette at age 17. No more wilderness hikes to 9,000 feet. No more jogging. No tennis doubles matches. I don't think I want to try swimming again. They say this condition is irreversible, but I've made great strides in lung capacity and endurance for the daily walks. But I curse the day I started smoking in my youth.
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