RITA'S FANTASTIC NEWS!!

Oh wow! What excellent news :thepost: .

Rita, we are all so happy for you :bubbly: :cracker: . Take a deep breath (now you know you can) and face the world proudly.

However, you must not think that the good news lets you off posting here and keeping in touch with everyone as that is not the case at all. Look forward to hearing from you soon.

Loads of love

Jacee :love:

xx

Hi Rita,

I'm so, soooo pleased for you! It must be such a sense of relief? Come on, let us all share the celebrations with you - wonderful post, Van!!

Love and thoughts,

Stitch

:star: :star: GREAT NEWS RITA :star: :star:

So very pleased to hear your news.

I hope that it doesn't mean you will stop posting.

Take care and enjoy life, :D

Ann xx

Thank goodness that Vanessa put that post on, as I had decided to just slink away, never to be heard of again. I was so embarrassed, but she has given me a perspective on things that I hadn't considered. It seems that my illness (the chest infection) which forced me to the doctor has been a life saver (literally), as without that original 37% FEV1 diagnosis I would still have been smoking. So - that's one good thing.

The second of course is that I have met a wonderful group of people on here, for which I am very grateful and with your permission I will continue to participate, although what I can offer is not going to be of much use to you. Do you want to hear about my Toyboys in Greece and strangers in the night in Capri?? I jest of course: it was my birthday just two days ago (I was 64) and last night I was giving the good news story and my wanton plans for the future to a very good friend of mine. That these stories involved Robbie Williams (!!) and Russell Brand (even more !!!) shocked her (she and I were desk partners in our Catholic Primary School almost 60 years ago). She then asked me how long it is since I LOOKED IN A MIRROR!!!

I am going to carry on with my fitness regime (I have today sent away for some hand dumbells from Amazon) and have just returned from my daily one mile walk in the park. The trampoline is here for the days when the weather isn't quite so tempting and I am enjoying doing Amarillo on that, at a faster speed than the original of course.

I have my introductory Pulmonary Rehab course on 18th November and I am really looking forward to that. This has nothing to do with the fact that it is held at our local Football Stadium and there is every chance that there will be muscular masculine thighs, during their training session, on view at the same time.

Thank you all for your support. I had started tidying out the cupboards so as not to leave piles of junk for the family to sort out due to my closely imminent demise.

Rita

Congratulations Rita - keep up the good work.

I know you will do just dandy with the little help from members and guests on the forum.

:D

:ale: :ale:

Cheers

[quote:f00a38c8e9] I had started tidying out the cupboards so as not to leave piles of junk for the family to sort out due to my closely imminent demise.

Lol Rita! Think better to use your time enjoying life and let them do the sorting out later!! :lol:

I also think you better find the forum for sex mad pensioners...............

Love Ann x

[/quote:f00a38c8e9]

oops forgot to close your quote - sorry!

Ann x

Oh Rita,

I'm so glad you came back; absolutely loved your post!! Please stay - you bring hope to all of us and get that young man in your life!!!!

Love and thoughts,

Stitch

First day of the Pulmonary Rehab course today. Not much done, it was merely just an introduction and exlpanation session with almost as many NHS personnel as there were clients (ie Physios, Nurses, Admin, Benefits Advice, Dietician). Totally different to what I had expected: I think I expected something more like a Gym, but there was not much evidence of any equipment.

I have decided not to enrol on this Course, but to wait until December when one closer to my home will commence.

The walks in the Park have come to a halt. The weather is really not suitable, so I am doing my best to walk on the Trampette, using the hand dumbells at the same time.

Hi Metermaid

I also expected the pulmonary rehab to be more hi=tech when I first went - it definitely was not. The most sophisticated piece of equipment we had was a step!!! However, the workouts are designed for COPD patients, to exercise all of the muscle groups and to be gentle though effective. Despite the low intensity I found them really difficult at first and built up only slowly - but I can see how anyone who is fitter than me may find them too low-tech and prefer exercise bikes/gym/walking. I think if you are managing at a higher level it may pay for you to continue to do so, but as you say, you can also add this class later when it is available nearer, should you want to. Anyway, the best exercise is smiling.

Jacee

xx

Having had a stressful couple of weeks, I had to visit the GP again on another matter. I've followed all the advice given on here and my breathing and chest felt as well as they have done for a long time. During our conversation, I suggested in a 'jokey' manner to the doctor that his diagnosis of COPD was wrong, and that my FEV was probably better than his! Bear in mind that I had been tested by the Pulmonary Nurse and given an FEV score of 70% (after the initial chest infection had cleared up). The Doc tested me again and came up with a score of 47%, declaring that I definitely did have COPD. There was no difference in the state of my breathing between the two different tests.

Could it be that I have become so used to breathing problems, whilst undiagnosed, over the years, that what I now class as being 'Great; is not so.

It seems that I can 'select' how poorly I am by selecting which FEV reading I choose to believe! I don't want to hawk myself around the City choosing different sources to have the test re-done until I find one that suits me, but I honestly don't know where I am with it all. I have a print-out from the Nurse (showing 70%) but the doctor came up with the figure by doing little sums on his desk pad.

So ... what to do now? Of course I shall continue the not-smoking (OK, just one or two little lapses ... sorry) and try to re-start my exercise programme.

Any advice from anyone?

Hi Rita

My, aren't you the lucky one! \"Yes, of course I can go on working as my FEV1 is 70%\" or \"NO, I can't hoover and iron today as my FEV1 is only 47%\".

Seriously though, this is b****y ridiculous. Are they both :cracker: :cracker: ? Everybody's FEV1 can vary slightly, and we also have to allow for different machines being calibrated slightly differently I suppose, but a difference of 23% is emphatically not acceptable. Whilst I would tend to trust the Pulmonary Nurse and her print out rather than the GP and his sums, the difference in readings could make a big difference in treatments and needs to be sorted out.

Can you suggest to the Pulmonary Nurse (or GP) that they should consult with the GP (or Nurse) because you are confused by the big difference in the readings? Maybe if they get their heads together you will end up somewhere in-between !!!!!!!!! :roll: The mind boggles :roll: . Good luck and keep trying to give up the ciggies - a good move whatever the true reading.

Jacee

xx

Hi Rita -

Do you still have that print out from the nurse showing 70%? If so, check whether it says FEV 70% or FEV1 70% - there is a big difference between the two! I am wondering if you have mistakenly taken the FEV as your reading. FEV (without the number 1 next to it) means 'forced expiratory volume' ie. the total volume of air you managed to force out of your lungs.

FEV1 (note the number 1 next to it) shows the amount expelled in one second.

your FEV1 % is the number we use eg jacee is fev1 29%, meaning she has very severe copd (sorry jacee).

Hopefully your print out shows a few 'numbers'. Somewhere here on the Patient UK pages is a page with a spirometry calculator where you input your age, numbers etc - I'm not sure what it then gives you in its answers as I've never used it. Anyhow, have a look at it and put the required numbers in it , taken from your 'print out'.

I found the calculator by googling' how to calculate your fev1' and I noticed that it gave patient uk as one of the options (there's masses of info on this site when you take a good look - even the Doctors use it). I will have another look and try pasting it to you in a PM - though I don't always get that right :oops:

Hope this has helped clarify things - it's the only explanation I can think of to explain the discrepancy in your numbers - unless your doc is rubbish at maths of course - but the very fact that he did the sums suggests he's familiar with working it out so he is probably right I'm afraid. If this is the case then you are much closer to myself and stitch in your figures, and you have my sincere sympathy as you must be struggling more than we had realized.

Will PM you the page you need shortly in case you don't find it, in the meantime, lots of love, Vanessa X

Hi Rita

Sorry you've had a tough time recently.

As the respiratory nurse's and the GP's calculations show a rather large gap perhaps a referral to a respiratory consultant might shed more light on your COPD.

At other times our breathing deteriorates if there is a lung infection, the FEV1% ratio will be markedly different to when our COPD is stable.

My understanding is a CT scan determines more precisely about our lung condition, as this shows (among other things) the lung scaring. The spirometry test on the other hand gives readings on how well we are breathing (as a guideline). I believe when a patient is referred to a respiratory consultant, this is when thorough testing is carried out including a CT scan.

The other thing, I've come across, is sometimes when we enquire about the FEV1 we are told just what the FEV1 reading is and this reading is completely different to the FEV1% predicted (or ratio) which is reached by a calculation of the FEV1/FVC. Patient UK has a page where you can do this calculation yourself (if you have the print out), this page also explains more about your readings.

I know we are not meant to include web page addresses and unsure if that also includes another patient uk page, but you will be able to find said page by searching for Spirometry Calculator.

Hope this is helpful and hope you are feeling much better real soon.

Take good care.

V

PS It is advantageous to stay smoke free and continue with regular exercise. We can deteriorate very quickly if we continue smoking and don't keep the exercise going. In order to be as well as we can be these are just two of the things we can do for ourselves to help keep our condition stable.

Thank you so much for your replies. I've got a family member staying with me at the moment, who has recently had surgery, so I feel duty-bound to sit by the sick bed giving all the required support. Consequently this is the first time I have touched the computer since my post. I am looking forward to doing the calculations myself now, and luckily still have the print out. I will be back as soon as I have the opportunity.

All this - and Christmas around the corner! The central heating has been on all night again (of its own accord of course) so it must be very cold out there, but only a fine dusting of snow thank goodness.

Speak later