Results of my end of year COPD status.....

.My LFT in chamber went really well, so no trouble doing it.......Figures show.....FEV.1 >>22% (0.66).........DLCO/TLCO >>26% (7.3) ........,KCO>>28% (1.2)......,FEV.C>>69% (2.62).........No ABG till results of Barium in a weeks time as they had 5 tries just finding a vein for normal blood test so they said they would give me a break from needles. Both arms were tried but no go till finally they got enough using a super fine needle. They call it Rolling Veins.

My EKG was great , no heart issues.....The Barium was wonderful after all the bad stuff i read.....The liquid was very tasty in fact....so waiting for results.....Next week i will get all results sent to me plus a copy to doctor.......So all in all pretty happy about it.......

I'm sorry to hear that you went thru the "find a vein torture" :(
glad you are over with that part.
Your LFT is interesting. A few different abbreviations from the ones i've had her.
I don't have KCO, do you know what that stands for?
my DLCO (diffusion capacity of lung) they record--- separate from TLC (total lung capacity).
How does this compare to last years numbers? (i hope that you are "stable" in your numbers)
Amazing with that low of numbers you don't need supplemental 02. Just goes to show how we can all be same, but so different.

unless that inhaler helps that much!!! if so I sure will want to try it when it comes to U.S.!
thanks for sharing your numbers with us. I find these medical things so interesting so it helps me to keep my mind active studying numbers, abbreviations and so forth.

question; has your Pulm (or any dr) ever told you how your numbers can be so low & not need supplemental 02? Amazing! I assume inhalers & lower elevation can make a difference, but not that much!

Bummer that you have to wait a week for the barium results.But at least you are getting closer to (hopefully) getting an answer.
..I'm glad you "enjoyed" your barium drink LOL.
now off to read about your link closer :)

Peter..I also have rolling veins.so I have been told...What I dont understand is that someone will get the vein first try and the next nurse or Doc. will not get it at all...I guess sometimes my veins rock and sometimes they roll ,,,,good luck with your results...Irene

Here.......Jarca...It is totally meaningless to me,
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where kCO (min-1 or s-1) is the rate of uptake of CO from the alveoli (to combine with haemoglobin (Hb) in the pulmonary capillaries) during a 10 s breath-hold at full inflation (TLC); KCO is a rate constant (or an efficiency index). VA is the alveolar volume seen by CO during the breath hold; VA is 918% (1.645 SRs) of TLC [11], but will be significantly less than this in the presence of airflow obstruction, because of gas mixing delays during the short breath hold time. Pb* (barometric pressure minus water vapour pressure at 37C) normalises the uptake (mmol or mL per min) per unit pressure (kPa or mmHg), so that the product, TL,CO, has units of conductance, mmol per min per kPa in SI units (mL per min per mmHg in traditional units); divide by three to convert traditional to SI. The KCO is the rate constant normalised to Pb, but the clumsy units used in pulmonary function reports (mmol per min per kPa per L) give the misleading impression that the rate constant KCO corrects TL,CO for lung volume. It does not; in normal subjects the relationship between TL,CO and VA is not linear.

Once the physiology has been grasped (equations 1 and 2), the meaning of a low TL,CO depends on the relationship between its components, KCO and VA. The causes of a low and high KCO are given in Table 1
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My Pulmo said i was doing well and stable.......Last nite i had a bit of a bad scary episode when spaghetti n prawns got stuck in my windpipe n i thought that this was it..LOL...I could not even talk to call 000 n poor Beth has no idea what to do anyway lol 10 mins it finally sank n the burning pain slowly dissipated...Def... need a endoscopy if Barium fails...
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http://lrp.ersnet.org//breathe/6_2/5/index5.html

Yes Irene..I absolutely hate blood tests.....the ABG is much worse..The last time they stuck it in my vein in the wrist n my entire hand went black with bruising.....LOL

I am also incredibly hard to stick - whether ABG or vein. I have learned to ask for pediatric nurse, if available. They are more experienced in hitting difficult to stab patients & get me first effort most of the time.

Very glad for your results, Peter!

Thanks for sharing Gwapo, I still don't understand all those abbreviations. Nice to know there is a good med on the way. It will probably have a different name in Canada , but the chemical name will be the same.

Goodness Peter !! I am like you and the others, I have no clue about what all that means! But I do hope you get results soon. I know when they try to find a vein in me, they have stuck me it seems all over my body, and last time was right in the crook of my arm which hurt like hell every time I moved the arm. The rest of me was black and blue, but I made them take it out after a few hours, it hurt so much. Finally a nurse came in and found a spot on top of my hand between my thumb and finger. I may have rolling veins also, but mostly mine hide because they are tired of being jabbed!

Jarca, I am going to pass on playing detective and trying to figure out what all this means ! lol Just hope Gwapo gets good reports and fells better.

I will ask Sanchez about that inhaler Gwapo. You are right, the US FDA takes forever to approve a drug. It may be in your country or across the pond, for years before we ever get it here.

Hugs to you and Beth, and easy on those prawns. Take smaller bites !!

BJ