Sorry you misunderstood Jean. These small comment boxes leave a lot of room for improvement indeed.

To help clarify my remarks, I was prescibed O2 after my first ICU stay. I did attempt Rehab within 90 days of the first event, but went down again due to another infection. I felt pretty poorly before that and between the other Exacerbation events just the same, even with Oxygen.

I chose not to actually use the O2 during Rehab activities and my numbers were through the roof. But with the nurses and others there, it was bearable.

I suggested Rehab for Duane because many associate Rehab and Oxygen Therapy together, and they are not mutually exclusive. Hope that helps more.

Correction @A MyCOPDTeam Member:
Except for the treadmill, I recall the majority of exercises focused on strengthening the chest muscles through arm and shoulder movements. We were told that this ultimately strengthed the diaphragm muscles for stronger exhalations as well. Without a doubt, every body (and their results) are different.

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A MyCOPDT...

Actually not a bad thing at all. It took a while for my Docs to have those tests done at all for me. Now the data is in your file and can easily be approved if things should worsen. BUT here's the good news: because they couldn't approve you for Oxygen supplies, you might very well qualify for Respiratory Rehab. These are controlled activities to build breathing muscle strength and increase mobility during daily chores and activities. The goal is to keep those O2 levels above the minimums where oxygen is normally prescribed.

Your Docs may have to push your insurance company to approve those sessions. They will gasp and hold their breath when the prescription comes across their desk. The 12 week course can be a bit pricey.

It means that when you were walked about your doc's office, your saturation levels remained above 88 or possibly 90, depending on what threshold they use for prescribing. Saturation levels generally respond to the intensity of the exercise and tend to drop as the intensity increases. If you believe that you need 02, then you should walk as hard as you can to demonstrate what happens when you truly exert yourself. Have them walk you up a couple flights of stairs. If your sats don't drop, then you probably don't need 02. For most of us, stairs make our sats drop like rocks. 02 is not prescribed to improve breathing, though it may help in some cases; it's prescribed to be sure that your body has sufficient 02 to ensure that everything gets sufficient 02 to continue to function at maximum efficiency.

I was on oxygen some years ago and was taken off it in 2018.
This year I was hospitalised for a month because of low blood count I was 50 I should have been 144 I was told I was not making white and red blood cells, platelets and bone marrow. I did get blood and platelets transfusion I had 7 antibiotics all at same time some via drip others orally, I also numerous fluid drips. whilst in hospital I had high fluid on the lungs I ended up with pneumonia I was put on oxygen as not enough oxygen in the blood. I had an oxygen review last week which was me being on oxygen for half hour then brought into room still on oxygen oximetry said my sats were 92 then she warmed up my ear snipped my ear for blood which was tested I think it was for gas level in the blood Next thing I was told that I’m still on oxygen and my next appointment would be in a years time,
A belated happy 4th July to all those members from the USA