Connect
Comment receiving replies
@denise96. The bigger size number is the CO2 and the smaller size number is heart rate. The CO2 only goes to 100 which is perfect. You don't want your husband's CO2 to go lower than 90 I'd say. Seeing your hubs and mine both have COPD, my husband's docs told him his good CO2 range is 87 and up, I've found him acting like he was drunk when his CO2 was in the 50's and he was able to walk to the car so I could get him to hospital. I think 2x I was able to bring him to hospital where they'd admit him directly to ICU. All the other times I found him unresponsive so I had to call 911.
Replies to "@denise96. The bigger size number is the CO2 and the smaller size number is heart rate...."
I think there May be some confusion if you are talking about a pulse oximeter, a small apparatus that you place on the tip end of one's finger, preferably the ring or middle finger on the left hand. Those devices measure O2 levels not CO2. The reading to the small window on the left measures SpO2, on the right is PRbpm (Pulse Rate-beats per minute0). The SpO2 level should remain 88% and above. The only way to measure the CO2 level is through lab work. Maybe this is why you have made so many trips to the ER and ended up in the ICU. Please call the physicians office tomorrow first thing and see if there is a nurse, or even the PCP to instruct you on the readings of the pulse oximeters.
The only way to check for hypercapnia is a blood test.
Pulse oximeters, the little gadgets we put on a finger, measure oxygen and pulse rate.
Connect
My husband has not had another attack of the respiratory distress which caused his two hospital stays. The first time it happened in September was because he od on his oxycodones and who knows what else. I don't know what caused the second one. Probably the same thing but I don't think he took as many. I had him 4 oxycodones each morning but I hear him in the kitchen getting more. I am at the point where I don't care how many he takes. If he doesn't find where I put them, he will just get them from someone else. But so far, it has been almost a month since he was admitted on Dec. 15. He is happy now because there is a football game on now. I don't know if the steelers play or not. I am not a sports fan. Of course, I hope the steelers win, but whether they do or not makes no difference to me. But football will keep him happy tonight. 🙂