Ok, about 02 saturation levels

02 was 96% while sitting in her office, on both her oximeter and mine. Of course. She said she couldn't hear any lung sounds, but asked me if I was always this pale. That was kind of a question I couldn't answer, as I don't spend a lot of time looking at myself in the mirror to see if I'm pale or not....

They took a lot of blood and are sending it off to the hospital. I'm to call back on Wednesday afternoon for the results. We will decide what to do from there.

Had some trouble with my records though. They are in my old name, which the doctors' office has a record of my having changed to my present one. As I went round-and-round with them when they kept getting it wrong when I sent them a copy of the order changing it.  And they were confused, saying the DOB doesn't match either. Had to explain that in the USA DOB is Month/Day/Year.  Not sure why, but I had thought most people would know that, just as I have known for years that in the UK and much of Europe it's Day/Month/Year. Guess not. 

Edit:  Of course, here at home 02 is good unless I lay down, when it drops back down into the high 80s. That's weird.

  And they were confused, saying the DOB doesn't match either. Had to explain that in the USA DOB is Month/Day/Year.  Not sure why, but I had thought most people would know that, just as I have known for years that in the UK and much of Europe it's Day/Month/Year. Guess not. 

At least their attention to detail is good! That's not a bad thing in their occupation!   

02 was 96% while sitting in her office, on both her oximeter and mine. Of course. She said she couldn't hear any lung sounds, but asked me if I was always this pale. That was kind of a question I couldn't answer, as I don't spend a lot of time looking at myself in the mirror to see if I'm pale or not....

They took a lot of blood and are sending it off to the hospital. I'm to call back on Wednesday afternoon for the results. We will decide what to do from there.

Had some trouble with my records though. They are in my old name, which the doctors' office has a record of my having changed to my present one. As I went round-and-round with them when they kept getting it wrong when I sent them a copy of the order changing it.  And they were confused, saying the DOB doesn't match either. Had to explain that in the USA DOB is Month/Day/Year.  Not sure why, but I had thought most people would know that, just as I have known for years that in the UK and much of Europe it's Day/Month/Year. Guess not. 

Edit:  Of course, here at home 02 is good unless I lay down, when it drops back down into the high 80s. That's weird.

They need to check your orthostatic measurements then... I've noticed in the Dr appointments here they do almost all their measurements sitting at a desk, but that means sometimes missing things. Do you have a BP cuff? I would check that laying vs sitting vs standing too if you can.

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Oh, the BP. Yeah, that also taken while sitting. About as expected. It drops slightly if I'm laying down. Holds ok when I'm standing, but not for too long. (We had to do the whole POTS eval thing for the Daughter several years ago, so I know this route. Unfortunately, I cannot stand in one place for three minutes without becoming lightheaded. So... eh.

I'm waiting for the bloodwork. I have to send her some other records (I only brought the ones dealing with lungs today) and will put a note in there about the difference in laying down and sitting up.  From what I can tell from Dr. Google it has to do with fluids that will all drain to the bottom of the lungs/chest when sitting, so that the lungs work better. If I lay down it spreads back out and interferes.

Thanks the update Nan, good luck going forward.

I think the date thing is that only important American anniversary that most Brits could name a date for is Independence Day and even Americans use the day/month format. They mostly say "4th of July" rather than "July 4th".

Ok, so I was supposed to phone back for my test results (bloodwork). I just did. They are "normal". So I'm not anemic.

I asked the lady I spoke to what the next step was and she was confused. I said, do I need to come in and speak to the GP again, or are they referring me to a pulmonologist, and she said, "oh, if you are still poorly you should see the GP. Do you want to speak to the same one, or will anyone do?" I said "her" and got "She's on holiday this week, but if you call me tomorrow I can get you and appointment with her next week."

Ok. What do I need to know about working this system? I don't even know what bloodwork she ran, other than to check for anemia.

Well it's good you're not anemic, but always leaves your head scratching.
For now, definitely follow up with original GP. 
With the NHS, you have to be your own care advocate. They often won't chase you up (unless it is really urgent, but I have had good GPs phone me about random things too, so it all depends), and you have to be a bit of a sticky wicket. Sometimes things move so slow too, so it's annoying.   Go back to the GP and see what the next steps are.  I often go in with notes and questions written down and take my own notes back, so I don't forget anything. 
If you're feeling unwell again, definitely phone 111 for advice or if real bad, go to A&E.

Ok, so I was supposed to phone back for my test results (bloodwork). I just did. They are "normal". So I'm not anemic.

I asked the lady I spoke to what the next step was and she was confused. I said, do I need to come in and speak to the GP again, or are they referring me to a pulmonologist, and she said, "oh, if you are still poorly you should see the GP. Do you want to speak to the same one, or will anyone do?" I said "her" and got "She's on holiday this week, but if you call me tomorrow I can get you and appointment with her next week."

Ok. What do I need to know about working this system? I don't even know what bloodwork she ran, other than to check for anemia.

Check if your GP surgery has internet access. Ours does and among the things you can do online is see your complete history plus blood test  full results, always within 24 hours of having your blood sample taken. Our son had blood drawn this morning after seeing a GP the day before so I explained this to him and he now has internet access. He also scheduled an appointment with the same GP  at the same time he booked his blood test. Doesn’t matter if the blood tests come back good or not and saves a step in the process.

The GP should be quite clear if they are going to refer you to a specialist, and where we live they will give you a printed sheet with the referral plus instructions on how to book the appointment with the specialist. Last week I went to see my GP because I think I need a hearing test. She examined my ears for blockages, asked me some questions, asked if I wanted to go to the local hospital or to the local Specsavers for the hearing test. I chose Specsavers because I can easily walk there, and just like my other referrals I’ve had the printed instructions to make an appointment I could do it my telephone or online. (I did it online).

Of course I expect all NHS Trusts May be different.

All NHS trusts *and* GP practices are different unfortunately. But check the practice website, you may be pleasantly surprised what's available there. If you feel really unwell again between now and then call 111, they will either send a paramedic or schedule an out of hours appointment for you. Don't be afraid to call, it's not wasteful when it has to do with your breathing!

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Hi. Thanks for the advice.

The practice website is pretty basic, nothing really interactive on it. (Other than you can leave a message for them.)

I am going to call in a few and get another appointment. I am still tired, but able to be up and around most of the time. It's just when I try to do anything "substantial." (I got light-headed after standing scouring my cast-iron frying pan for five minutes yesterday; or, walking a mile to a tea shop we go to all the time I have to stop two or three times along the way, whereas up to a few months ago it was no problem at all.)

It has run through my mind that perhaps I'm out of condition, but that would not explain the low sats rate while resting.

You should probably ask for a cardiology check honestly. That sounds like it could possibly be more than just out of shape when combined with the o2 sat laying down. Things like that are best caught early so you have more management options.

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You should probably ask for a cardiology check honestly. That sounds like it could possibly be more than just out of shape when combined with the o2 sat laying down. Things like that are best caught early so you have more management options.

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I agree.  I have a BP monitor at home and one night a few years ago when I was feeling light headed I took my BP and along with the BP reading was a little symbol I had not seen before, a little shaky heart. When I checked the manual it said I had an irregular heart beat, go see a doctor ASAP. I then took my own pulse using my fingers on my wrist and could easily tell that it was irregular.

This was my first noticeable instance of atrial fibrillation and I had many more, all noticeable with feeling a little dizzy and being out of breath when doing anything heavy like walking up a hill or exercising at the gym. The docs here at the heart unit suggested I get an O2 meter similar to what Nan has and I carried it around with me when out hiking. Fortunately in my case my O2 stats were always good even during the AFib episodes. (I had surgery to fix the problem last October and it has been a great success so far - I have another follow up appointment in 2 weeks)

Nan’s issue is almost certainly not AFib but could be any number of conditions,. I’m sure a heart check will be well up the doctor’s checklist if the blood tests show nothing.

Yeah, I put it off until tomorrow, thinking I'd tough it out. Vacuumed the living room. Took 5 minutes to catch my breath. So I'll phone in the morning.

Ok, I'm due in to see her on Friday morning.  I just almost keeled over at B&Q a few hours ago. Heart was racing, 02 was 81, had to sit down. We had not walked all that much, but I felt truly lousy. So I'll be pushing her to sort this out.

Ok, I'm due in to see her on Friday morning.  I just almost keeled over at B&Q a few hours ago. Heart was racing, 02 was 81, had to sit down. We had not walked all that much, but I felt truly lousy. So I'll be pushing her to sort this out.

Nan, I would go to urgent care. This isn't a wait til Friday kind of thing if you're at the point you're fainting and sats are dropping like that. Please get checked out by someone with an ECG.

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