Breathinstephen » Funny asthma stuff

Mixing pleasure with business

Stephen — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 14:05:52 +0000

With almost 2 hours to kill in between medical appointments last week over at UCSF, I decided to put that otherwise wasted time to good use and do something Ive always wanted to…. I racewalked the Kezar stadium!

That’s right…. I racewalked 5.5 miles around the track, and I did it while wearing jeans and a button up shirt. You should have seen the stares I got. Hey, I have no shame. I’d racewalk in my underwear if I thought I could get a way with it. Not since my little racewalking for science experiment back in 2007, have I had so much fun during a medical appointment day.

Not sure why I didn’t do this sooner. Ive walked past this stadium a hundred times on my way up the hill to the hospital. I guess I felt a bit strange about combining a racewalk workout with a medical appointment, especially an appointment with lung doctor. Or maybe it’s just the weird juxtaposition of the two places. One representing illness and suffering, the other sport and pleasure. After all, the reason I come here UCSF in the first place, is because I have severe breathing problems. Wonder what their reaction would be if I told them, “Oh….and while I was waiting to see you today about my worsening dyspnea, I did 22 laps on the Kezar track”.

Yeah, that would go over real well.

UCSF medical center [in the upper right background] is situated just 2 blocks above the historic Kezar Football stadium. The former home of the Oakland Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers, Kezar stadium now hosts amateur and recreation sports leagues, as well as numerous San Francisco high school football games. The outdoor stadium has a beautifully maintained 400 track, perfect for a racewalking nerds like me. I’m sure a lot of the medical students and staff at UCSF use this track for their own workouts, so why shouldn’t their patients…. even their respiratory patients ? Hey if aerobic exercise isn’t useful in maintaining good health, I don’t know what is.

Best Lung Blogs of 2010

Stephen — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 15:58:30 +0000

Introducing the “Breathinstephen Blog Awards”

Once a year around the holiday season I like to put together a list of my favorite lung blogs. This year I thought it would be fun to give an award to those bloggers as well.

If your blog is on list, feel free to copy and paste the code for the award badge to your site with the little widget I made. You can remove the back-link to me from the code if you want .

A special thank you to Ms Kerri for designing this years award badge.

So, without further ado, here are this years picks…..

What to get the lung transplant recipient who has everything.

Stephen — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 15:09:46 +0000

I normally don’t post excerpts or links to other peoples posts, but this one I couldn’t resist. Like the many others who’ve reposted it, I just love it.

Piper, a recent double lung transplant recipient who had Cystic Fibrosis, lists her recommendations for that perfect holiday gift. I especially love the gift of prednisone.
Her thought provoking humor on this topic is the bitter sweet reality for a lot of lung transplant recipients. It made me think a lot about my own predicament and just how lucky I have it right now. I was going to post it last week when I first read it, but had an unexpected date with a hospital bed instead.

All I Want for Christmas (Is My Two New Lungs)

Every year the holidays roll around and hundreds of CF/post-transplant spouses and significant others are left struggling with what gift to buy their sensual, scarred sweetie. Tragically, many of these clueless Cassanovas will miss the mark entirely, presenting their beloved with a gift basket of grapefruit or a membership to the Raw Meat of the Month Club. But don’t be one of them! Let us help you stuff her stocking and trim her tree with helpful and exciting drugs from all walks of post-transplant life. Trust us, she (and her lungs) will thank you

read the entire post here

And the Winner is ……

Stephen — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 20:27:01 +0000

Thanks everyone for making this a fun contest and thank you Microlife for donating the awesome pf meter.

I wish I had prizes for everyone. Some of you came very close, but there can be only one winner, and that is (drum roll please)…….Kris of Ontario, Canada. Congrats Kris!

Kris came the closest with her winning guess of 291 . The actual number of empty vials was 282

Winston, Douglas,Stephen (and our other 6 cats) want to wish everyone a

Spooktacular Halloween!

Alfie’s Attack

Stephen — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 17:49:08 +0000

Meet Alfie the fish….

When the publishers of this new childrens book about asthma sent me a copy for my opinions, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to give it a fair review. I mean, an asthmatic fish who saves the live of shark who also has asthma? My background as Respiratory Therapist is in the cold clinical world of critical care, working mostly with adults patients, but I must say, I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the book and read the story.

It’s the kind book that you would read to children maybe at school or at bedtime. Authored by David Bohline, the story is very well written and the colorful illustrations absolutely wonderful. It’s a cute little book that get’s the message across. Kinda made me wish that this kind of book was available when I was a child. I think small children with asthma will easily relate to it. I especially love the colorful fish stickers that kids can put on their inhalers.

Any material that educates people about asthma at a very young age has my vote. I give this one 5 stars !
( Not sure if stickers come with all the books, or just first edition copies)

(Disclaimer: This book was provided by Vitality Books for review. I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.)

My first Halloween Contest

Stephen — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 19:02:04 +0000

The following is a perfect example of what prednisone can to an otherwise intelligent and creative mind……

I was at the town grocery store the other day, where I noticed they were having a contest to see if you could guess the weight of this huge pumpkin they had as part of a Halloween display. As I was walking home I thought to myself hmmm… I should have a contest of my own, but rather than pumpkins, I’ll have people try to guess how many empty albuterol/atrovent vials I have laying around. Out of this, the inaugural Breathinstephen Halloween Contest was born.

The rules are simple:
All you have to do is guess how many vials are in the bowl and send it to me via email or comment by Oct 29th.

The person who comes closest to guessing the actual number of vials, will win a brand new digital peak flow/FEV1 meter valued at $75.00, courtesy of the kind folks over at Microlife . The Microlife peak flow meter kit comes complete with batteries, a nice carrying case and a usb cable so you can track your data on your computer. I love this flow meter, because in addition to peak expiratory flow rates, it also measures FEV1, which is a better indicator of lung function.

Only one entry per person please.
I’ll announce the winner on the Friday before Halloween or thereabouts.
*********Check out the photos carefully and give it your best shot*********

**Here’s a hint…The empties in this bowl represent roughly a month and a half of neb treatments for me.**

Good luck!

(PS….Wait till you see what I’m planning to make out of these things when I get enough of them.)

Hospital survival Kit, don’t leave home without it.

Stephen — Wed, 26 May 2010 16:51:18 +0000

This is what I call my Hospital survival kit. Always packed and on standby 24/7, my HSK is a small carry bag I keep in my bedroom, that’s filled with everything I might need for a hospital stay.

If (or when) I get sick and have to go to the hospital, all I have to do is grab the bag and GO!

When you spend as much time in the slammer as I do, there are certain essentials you’re going to need to make your stay a little more bearable.

So what do I have in my HSK ?

*Introduction note: (See this earlier post for more details), but basically it’s a note from your personal physician summarizing your medical condition.

*List of medications: Since I’m probably not gonna be able to do a lot of talking to the triage nurse or the doctors, a pre-written list of all my medications comes in really handy.

*Extra clothing : Underwear, t-shirt , Socks etc.

*Toiletries: A few of the things that can make you feel like a human again, especially if you’ve been on the ventilator for a few days , are some clean underwear, a shave, a shampoo , some deodorant, and of course some good oral care help.

*Extra inhalers: As crazy as it sounds, an extra albuterol inhaler is an essential part of the HSK. Even though you’re in the hospital, it can sometimes take too long to get a PRN neb treatment. I can’t tell you how many times having my inhaler, saved me from crashing. ( If you carry one, my advise is not to tell them or they might confiscate it.)

*Phone and Charger: Hospitals can be very lonely places. Not to mention the hospital room phones can be pretty gross. My cell phone or computer is often my only connection to the outside world. Since I’m sometimes too short of breath to talk, texting is the way to go. And of course the camera is useful for blogging purposes ( as we all know).

* Pencil and paper: If you have a breathing problems, or wanna remember peoples name, or just wanna be able to fill out the food menu without tracking down a nurse, these simple items can be very useful. If you end up on bipap or a ventilator, they’re absolutely essential (unless you’re good with sign language.).

* Credit card and cash: Hospitals are more like prisons than you might think. It’s always good to have a credit card or a little cash on hand, in case you need to buy something.

So, what do y’all carry in YOUR Hospital Survival Kits?

Here we a have medication list, contacts and a summary of my medical history

My drugs are still in the closet

Stephen — Sun, 09 May 2010 03:50:34 +0000

(Get it?)

Actually, I was inspired by Kerri’s messy drug drawer posts, to straighten up my own medicine storage area. ( There’s all kinds of double meanings here)

No , this isn’t my medication drawer, it’s my medication ROOM! I have so many boxes of Albuterol/Atrovent nebules.. I could open up a pharmacy ( a 120 boxes to be exact).

Can you tell I’m a Virgo? (aka… anal retentive)

Newly discovered horror pictures

Stephen — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:11:58 +0000

Just in time for Halloween! Some newly discovered horror show pictures.

Last week while I was clearing out my cell phone, I stumbled upon these eerie photos that my partner Douglas must have taken when I was in the hospital this past June. If you recall, I was intubated for an asthma exacerbation, but had a reaction to the drug propofol, known as propofol infusion syndrome . As a result, they had to stop giving me the drug, which made it difficult to keep me sedated while I was still on the ventilator.

These are some photos of me waking up on the ventilator during that event. You probably can’t tell from the photos, but I had the worst feeling of suffocation imaginable, but at the same time I was so doped up… I couldn’t react to it. It was awful!
When I first saw these pictures, it was kinda like deja vu. Now, they just plain gross me out, so I thought Id share them with my ghoulish asthmatic friends.

Newly discovered Horror pictures

What are the chances

Stephen — Sat, 27 May 2006 19:28:00 +0000

I can’t believe it ! I found the inhaler I lost 2 days ago .(at least I thinks it mine) It was laying in the middle of the side walk, mid-span on the bridge. Looked good as new . But just in case someone decided to use it, I took the medication canister and discarded the mouthpiece.

I rarely find the things that I loose on my walks. In the past year, I’ve lost the following items ;

cell phone
pepper spray
water bottle
key
hat ( flew off the bridge)
money
race bib

Just what the Doctor didn’t order

Stephen — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 22:22:00 +0000

In a typical month I use somewhere around 550 puffs of albuterol via the inhaler. That equals about 18 puffs a day. (Not a huge amount for a hardcore asthmatic .) Anyway, each inhaler holds appx 180 puffs which means I need appx 3 inhalers per month. Well, today I went to the pharmacy to pick up my albuterol refills. Instead of getting the usual three inhalers (per month), the pharmacy clerk handed me only two. When I questioned why they were only dispensing two inhalers, she said, its not us ……Its the insurance company.

She said that the insurance company would only allow them to dispense two albuterol inhalers per month regardless of what the prescription says. WHAT the F**K??? So , now the insurance companies are deciding how much medication I deserve? Cmon, we’re not talking about an expensive drug. In fact, albuterol is cheap, much less than the $10.00 co-pay .

As it turns out, I have to get ” pre-authorization” from the insurance company to get three inhalers a month. Basically , my doctor has to beg them to give me more medicine.

I have an idea, if I run out of albuterol before the end of the month, I’ll just go to the Emergency Room and get it there. That will save the insurance company tons of money;-)

Battle Scars……Electrode Gum

Stephen — Sun, 25 Dec 2005 20:00:00 +0000

Can anyone out there relate to this?

You’ve been home from the hospital for a few days now, and you still can’t get all that electrode gum off your chest? It’s like a black rubber glue that won’t wash off. You have to literally peel or rub it off your skin! Ive been home for almost a week now, and I still haven’t removed it all. Hopefully, I’ll get it off before I have to go in again.

Now, take a look at your arms..lots of IV holes, patches of shaved skin and still lots of tape gum.. Fun isn’t it?