Self Service

bipap machine

Just one of the advantages of being an asthmatic Respiratory Therapist, though the hospital staff might not be so thrilled. They get a little grouchy when the patients start adjusting ventilator settings Now for the serious educational part: The rational for using non -invasive bipap therapy during a severe asthma exacerbations is simply to reduce [...]

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Knocked down, but not defeated

(Arterial Line) Thanks everyone for your support and especially to Dr Wensel for staying in close contact during my 98th hospitalization. Thanks also to ALL the wonderful nurses who took care of me..You guys are awesome! Most of all, thank you to my dear Douglas who goes through hell every time I get sick. I’m [...]

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#97 , misinformation and a virus from Hell

vv 050

Battle scars: 4 failed arterial line attempts and 12 failed IV attempts. I have no veins left and my radial arteries are so scarred up from previous insertions, that it’s virtually impossible to get access unless they put a central line in. Very frustrating for the doctors and very painful for me. I’d been having [...]

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Number 96

ID bracelt 002

Thanks everyone for all your kind emails while I was in the slammer. The hospital volunteer who brought the messages to my bedside, said he’d never delivered so many messages to one person , and that I must be pretty popular:-) Sorry I couldn’t respond to each one individually, but I read all one of [...]

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Number 94….

vent 2

…………..As in my 94th hospital admission for asthma. I had been feeling really crumby most of that weekend prior. My dyspnea was increasing and my peak flows were gradually trending downward. By Sunday evening it was pretty evident that this flare-up was getting worse , not better. I bolused myself with 60mg prednisone and decided [...]

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#84

Wednesday I was discharged from my 84 th incarceration for the crime of asthma. I hadn’t been breathing well for most of last week, and by the time Monday rolled around I just couldn’t tolerate it anymore (even Superman has his limits.) So at 10:30 on Monday night , Douglas convinced me that it was [...]

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Just another week in the life of a hardcore asthmatic

I usually don’t post about my hospital experiences because its not a subject I like to re-live. Its an unwanted , terrifying , but necessary, part of my life. When it happens , I just try to get through it and then I try to blank it out . Its the only way I know [...]

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