help interpreting medical test result (LONG)

[Val]

My dear Great-grandmother is 85 and lives alone on the West Coast. She is a stubborn, holistic, herbal medicine based Czech/Swede. She reports to us that she has leaky heart valves, interstitial lung disease, and has been on oxygen 24/7 for 2 years. I did sneak a peak at the cardiology exam results, and it does indeed say all her valves leak...she won't share any other info with us. She refuses to take ANY medication, but is getting physical therapy for her breathing (her breathing excerise, as she calls it). Other than that she is "perfectly healthy. The doctors gave her 6 months to live a year and a half ago, but that irritated her so she "refused to die according to their agenda" (and that's a direct quote!!!!).....

....now for the question. Her most recent tests (this is her report) indicated that while on oxygen and walking gently for 6 minutes on the treadmill her "oxygen levels go into the 70's". Is she reporting blood oxygen levels? P02? How bad is this and how worried should I be? Still no new medication (like she'd TAKE it!).

She claims she is "just fine" and those pill-driven young doctors irritate her with all their mumbo jumbo. In the mean time she is making up more herbal tea treatments and threatening to put a curse on the doctors.

Any nurses, pulmonary therapists or doc-types care to comment (on the oxygen- we've given up on the curses and stubborness)?

 

[JenBlaze]

If that's her pulse ox she's talking about, yeah, I'd be very worried.

 

[mudnuri]

She's got to be talking about the blood oxygen levals.

Now I will say this....and I may not be a professional but have at it anyway.

DD6 had severe breathing problems from when she was 1.5-4. She had a nebulizer, was on pulmicort, prednisone, singulair etc.... whenever we went to the hospital...(which was A LOT in the winter)..the lowest I've ever seen her leval was in the low 80's...and they'd keep hitting the nebulizer to her to get it back up to where it belongs..in the 90's...

Just my .02

Brandy

 

[Christine]

My DS (age 9) is an asthmatic. When he is doing good is oxygen level is in the upper 90s and sometimes 100s.

When he had a bad asthma attack is pulse oxygen level was in the mid-80s. They were adamant that he could not leave the hospital until we got to at least 89 (and they weren't too thrilled with that). So round and round the hospital we would walk with his oxygen tank and then they would measure him. I would say that having it in the 70s is pretty bad. But people do learn to compensate. I woman I work with has bronchial adhesions due to a previous surgery. She does not have asthma but you'd never know that. Anyway, when the scar tissue builds up her oxygen levels start going down. Sometimes she has been measured at 50%. She claims she "feels fine" and she does continue with all her activities. Personally, I'm afraid she's going to collapse.

 

[Val]

Thanks for the quick responses. I am guessing that it is blood oxygen saturation, too, and the 70's aren't good numbers (especially if this is WITH oxygen). I just can't tell with Grandma- she is stubborn and independent. She is sharp as a tack mentally and has a mind of her own. She has always been a remarkable woman; was one of the first women licensed CPA's in the state of Washington, worked for Boeing during the war, and ran a tax law firm with two male lawyers- all while raising she and my grandad raised us grandkids when my mom couldn't. Lost Grandpa about 9 years ago, and Grandma had a "breathing crisis" almost 2 years ago and ended in the hospital with this diagnosis. I do think she is getting worse, but there is no use worrying about her until she lets us.....will make sure my brothers are checking on her frequently, and all her neighbors adore her and watch out for her, too. Guess we will just be thankful for every day we have her- and who knows, she's just stubborn enough that she will live as long as she darn well pleases!