D. Mark Cato's Blog » Tests

7 December 2009

DMC — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 22:49:56 +0000

Last night I slept with the Oximeter clipped to my forefinger in preparation for the respiratory and expiratory lung tests at Papworth Hospital today. I went through the usual test and nothing much seems to change except the oxygen level in my lung blood has gone down from 95 to 92.5 which may or may not be as significant as the oximeter, which measures the level, can apparently, vary by up to 2%. However, having said that the consultant told me that they would know better in three months time when they measure the level again. Below 90 apparently is a point at which some ventilation intervention could be helpful. We will see.

7 September 2009

DMC — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 18:54:22 +0000

I made my long-awaited visit to Papworth Hospital today. I was there for nearly 4 hours undergoing a variety of respiratory and expiratory tests as well as having a chest x-ray and a lung blood test. Basically they were testing my FVC (Forced Vital Capacity) and checking my diaphragm for any deterioration in my breathing. I came out reasonably happy with the result having been shown to be 87% of the predicted FVC for someone on my age, weight and height. (With less sophisticated equipment the Addenbrookes team made it 93% in June). Papworth want to see me again in December and repeat all the same tests and from the differences, if any, will be able to tell me roughly what they consider will be my ‘slope of deterioration.’

15 February 2008

DMC — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 17:00:00 +0000

Then, with only days to go before I left for Australia, the neurologist took more blood, for 9 different tests and booked me in for another series of other tests.