02 & perfume

[Guest guest]

Hi all.

, what a lovely woman you are! No surprise there.

Thanks to you, too, Irene, for the photo of your

beautiful smile. Oly, your sunset photo is just gorgeous.

God does amazing work.

QUESTION: is there any PORTABLE mode of oxygen that goes

above 6 besides an e-cylinder? I detest that I'm probably

about to need more than my Helios can provide.

I also needed oxygen 24/7 when I was first diagnosed in

2004. I totally agree that it is absurd for anyone to measure

our sats when resting. Sometimes my sats will drop to 79%

just getting out of bed to go to the bathroom. However,

the lowest I've ever fallen on a 6MWT was 86%. Also, after

spiro the tech always has me sit there for a few minutes

before recording my sat rate at rest. Of course, by then,

it's always higher than when I first finished the test. Ticks me off.

My RT told me that some insurance companies use 88%

as the " cut-off " point. They also want us to start at ZERO

when starting the walk. So you spend the whole walk

trying to catch up (if it drops in a hurry like mine). My doc has

given me permission to start at 3 LPM now, which helps a bit,

even though I use 4 at rest and 6-8 with activity. No one

could make me climb stairs as a test!

Candles and other scents bother me, & even restaurants

with a grill. But the worst culprit by FAR for me (beside smoke)

is perfume. People don't seem to get it that the point isn't to

smell like you fell into a vat of the stuff!!

I'm facing the same problem with Texas summer that some

of you guys face in winter with the cold. Our wicked heat

and ozone give me terrible problems. It worries me --

thank goodness for AC. Hope Irene's AC got installed.

I fantasize about 80 degree days and 60 degree nights.

instead of 102 in the shade, humid, and 80's at night.

Last summer I spent a whole month in Carlsbad, CA on

vacation. CA weather there is simply heavenly. I will

hang on tight to that experience this summer in my mind.

FYI, a book recommendation: Scarred by Struggle, Transformed

by Hope, by Joan Chittister. I think she's a terrific and

profound writer. Any of you familiar with her?

Sleep tight and God's peace.

Gwynne