“G is my sister. She was diagnosed with Pulmonary Hypertension. When her oxygen levels, in her blood fall, the blood vessels in her lungs get smaller and this puts a strain on the right side of her heart. The goal is to keep her oxygen levels high enough, so this does not happen. Every activity – showering, dressing, making a meal, playing with her dogs, causes her oxygen levels to fall without the use of oxygen.
G was involved in a serious car crash many years ago. She suffered a life-long back injury and has no strength in one arm and hand. Her home oxygen is a concentrator with E cylinders when she goes out of the house. She cannot lift the E cylinder to get down her front stairs, nor get the cylinder in and out of her car. This has left my middle-aged sister house bound and reliant on others. She was independent before this diagnosis. She was a caregiver for small, very active child. Now she sits at home and asks what is her purpose.
It took months for her home care company to bring her/send her an adapter to allow oxygen to be used with her CPAP circuit. My sister’s bedroom is on the third floor. The tubing from her concentrator did not reach her bedroom. The oxygen tubing would reach for the first flight of stairs, but not for the second flight. She would use an E cylinder for oxygen at night with her CPAP. The oxygen would not last for a full night’s sleep. This left her with no additional oxygen when she showered or dressed. She was dependent on her roommate to change her empty cylinder each day. Her only other option was to sleep in a recliner on the first floor. She has since moved but is still dependent on others. Oxygen reform and access to a respiratory therapist who could assess her situation and make recommendations would be a game changer.”