I'm in the green zone
I noticed my asthma inhaler was getting low, so hunted for my repeat prescription and discovered it had expired last year in September.
So off I went to the doctor for a new one. Didn't see my regular doctor, he was on his lunch break, but the doctor I did see asked lots of questions, printed out my prescriptions, then asked if I had an asthma plan.
I said no and he said they're a good idea, while he hunted up the papers he had me blow into a peak air flow meter, I didn't think I scored very well on that, but he said it was a good reading taking into account my height and age, and the length of time I'd had the asthma. He also put a little clip thing on my finger to record my blood oxygen level. 97%. That's good, right?
He showed me a large chart that I should put on my fridge or wherever I have space, which shows what to do in case of an asthma attack, then he showed me a little credit card sized thing which opened out to a large sheet of paper, about A3 size, which was striped green, orange, red; like traffic lights; but with instructions printed in each zone.
The object of asthma care is to be in the green zone.
Lucky me, I'm in the green zone.
But if things get bad and I slip into the orange zone, there are instructions to follow to get me back into the green zone.
If I have symptoms from the other zones, orange or red, then I'm in that zone even if most of my symptoms are still in the green zone.
The red zone is the worst to be in and I now have steroid tablets to be kept just in case they're needed, for example if the red zone instructions aren't helping, and the worst case scenario is calling an ambulance if none of the instructions are helping.
I don't see me EVER getting to that point. But you never know.
So the plan is a good thing to have and I also bought my own peak air flow meter to monitor my air flow; this only needs to be done on a weekly basis.
All this new stuff and all I went for is a prescription renewal.
So off I went to the doctor for a new one. Didn't see my regular doctor, he was on his lunch break, but the doctor I did see asked lots of questions, printed out my prescriptions, then asked if I had an asthma plan.
I said no and he said they're a good idea, while he hunted up the papers he had me blow into a peak air flow meter, I didn't think I scored very well on that, but he said it was a good reading taking into account my height and age, and the length of time I'd had the asthma. He also put a little clip thing on my finger to record my blood oxygen level. 97%. That's good, right?
He showed me a large chart that I should put on my fridge or wherever I have space, which shows what to do in case of an asthma attack, then he showed me a little credit card sized thing which opened out to a large sheet of paper, about A3 size, which was striped green, orange, red; like traffic lights; but with instructions printed in each zone.
The object of asthma care is to be in the green zone.
Lucky me, I'm in the green zone.
But if things get bad and I slip into the orange zone, there are instructions to follow to get me back into the green zone.
If I have symptoms from the other zones, orange or red, then I'm in that zone even if most of my symptoms are still in the green zone.
The red zone is the worst to be in and I now have steroid tablets to be kept just in case they're needed, for example if the red zone instructions aren't helping, and the worst case scenario is calling an ambulance if none of the instructions are helping.
I don't see me EVER getting to that point. But you never know.
So the plan is a good thing to have and I also bought my own peak air flow meter to monitor my air flow; this only needs to be done on a weekly basis.
All this new stuff and all I went for is a prescription renewal.
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I am very glad to hear you are in the green zone - and most impressed with the doctor you saw.
ReplyDeleteA blood oxygen level of 97% is great. Himself was in the low 70% range while he was in hospital last.
Elephant's Child; my home treatment of my asthma has been quite 'hit and miss' over the years, with me ignoring the inhaler whenever I felt well enough to go without, so I'm surprised that I've managed to stay in the green zone. I never had any clue what a good level of blood oxygen was, so I'm pleased about that too. 70% sounds rather low, does he have breathing difficulties? Asthma? Or was it simply because he was so ill?
ReplyDeleteFrom now on, of course, I'll be following the instructions and puffing twice a day like I'm supposed to; I still planning on outliving my grandma!
It was a combination of things. Not helped because he had gone into hospital with a chest infection which he hadn't told anyone about.
DeleteSometimes it is good to see a different doctor.
ReplyDeleteWell, the doctor sounded very diligent and caring, giving you all that information. Good for him...and the information is good for you.
ReplyDeleteI hope you forever remain in the Green Zone, River
I've never had asthma so I really have no idea what you have to deal with.
I think you struck a good doctor there...perhaps you should make sure your future appointments are when your other doctor is on his lunch break. :)
Take care.
Sounds like it wasn't a coincidence you saw a different doctor.
ReplyDeleteThat lunch break worked in your favor.
ReplyDeleteStay green!
Take good care of yourself!!
ReplyDeleteAsthma is serious. Glad your new doc went to all that trouble. Could save a ride in an ambulance, down the road.
ReplyDeleteAndrew; a different doctor often has a different view of things.
ReplyDeleteLee; I can't speak for everyone, but my asthma presents as shortness of breath, with violent coughing fits if I breathe in too much of things like chemical fumes, overly strong heady perfumes, mould etc. If I try singing along with the radio, I also dissolve into coughing, which is sad because I used to be able to sing along at least a little bit. Didn't sound any good, but pretence is a wonderful thing.
Kathy G; I'm thinking that some fates at least were aligned in my favour.
joeh; I plan on staying green as long as possible, say...40 years.
fishducky; always. I like being alive.
joanne; I've known asthma is serious, but have always managed mostly by not breathing things I shouldn't; I often ride the buses with a hanky to my nose, filtering out strong perfumes etc and I avoid the cut flowers in supermarkets because of the oriental lilies. Then I make sure my bathroom is always dried as soon as I finish in there, no mould will ever be found in my shower.
But now at least I have the plan and instructions on what to do if things should go awry.