Well, today was the doctor's appointment. I could tell as soon as I started doing my Pulmonary Function Test that it wasn't going as well as I hoped it would. My numbers were slightly down from January. That being said, my doctor was not really worried about it. She said it might be because of the weather and allergies... got to love Tennessee weather. Needless to say, I am disappointed, and I will be working even harder now to get those numbers up.
To explain PFT numbers in very simple terms, I have a predicted amount of air that should be moved when I do the tests. The FVC (Forced Vital Capacity) is the amount of air you can exhale with force after you inhale deeply. FEV1 (Forced Expiratory Volume) is the amount of air you can exhale with force in one breath. The percentages are the percentage of the predicted volume that I could actually move. I have included a history of some of my more recent percentages, so you can kind of see my trend.... Hopefully, we will start seeing some higher numbers.
4/20/2011 FVC: 75% FEV1: 47%
1/19/2011 FVC: 80% FEV1: 54%
12/15/2010 FVC: 67% FEV1: 47%
10/29/2010 FVC: 79% FEV1: 57%
8/30/2010 FVC: 57% FEV1: 34%
3/23/2010 FVC: 66% FEV1: 42%
12/23/2008 FVC: 74% FEV1: 58%
8/18/2008 FVC: 90% FEV1: 73%
7/8/2008 FVC: 80% FEV1: 63%
12/31/2007 FVC: 90% FEV1: 73%
If you look closely, you will notice that the lowest numbers came around on August 30, 2010. That is the day, that my doctor in Knoxville told me that I would be needing a lung transplant soon. You will also notice that even though my numbers are lower than I would like them to be right now, and they have been bouncing around a bit, they are definitely higher than they were at that point. My goal is to keep it that way as long as I possibly can. My next appointment is July 27th, and I will keep you all posted as to what my numbers are at that time. Thanks for caring about my journey and giving me a reason to share all of this information!
Questions? Email me
No comments:
Post a Comment