Wanted to share my experience because I have not read about this on this forum.
On June 30, I had a long (9 hour) posterior surgery. While recovering in the hospital I was given a spirometer and told to work on taking a deep breath. The physical therapist set the goal at 1000 ml and with practice I was able to get it above that from time to time.
When I was released, there were no instructions at all about practicing breathing but I took the spirometer home anyway. After a few days at home it seemed that I was breathless a lot so I checked and noticed that it was hard to get near that 1000 ml mark. I practiced a lot but after a few days I started wondering. I had no fever, no cough, and no wheezing but I did not have enough breath to talk for very long on the phone. People could tell that I was easily winded and breathing hard. Walking and talking at the same time required some real panting. I thought it must be normal.
Finally I called the doctor's office. I was told this was not normal at all. They scheduled an appointment to see a pulmonologist the next day. Yesterday I went through 3 hours of testing. They did all sorts of test, including blood tests, xrays and a CT scan. Luckily everything came back normal, except for my lung capacity. I was told there was some apparent obstruction which she did not really explain but she said that I had had major surgery and was early in healing and my lungs were just not filling up normally yet. She has put me on Advair -- an inhaled steroid. I asked about taking a steroid and was reassured that the inhaled steroids will not get into my blood stream.
I have only taken it for one day but I have already noticed some improvement. I can talk without gasping and take a walking without huffing and puffing.
To give you a little background, I was in pretty good condition prior to surgery. For example, during the last week, I visited my sons near Denver and went bike riding 20-30 miles at a time without any trouble at all. I could walk a mile in 12 1/2 minutes. No asthma. No breathing difficulties. So I was surprised to have this issue.
The GREAT news is that it seems to be easy to fix whatever is going on.
Sheri
On June 30, I had a long (9 hour) posterior surgery. While recovering in the hospital I was given a spirometer and told to work on taking a deep breath. The physical therapist set the goal at 1000 ml and with practice I was able to get it above that from time to time.
When I was released, there were no instructions at all about practicing breathing but I took the spirometer home anyway. After a few days at home it seemed that I was breathless a lot so I checked and noticed that it was hard to get near that 1000 ml mark. I practiced a lot but after a few days I started wondering. I had no fever, no cough, and no wheezing but I did not have enough breath to talk for very long on the phone. People could tell that I was easily winded and breathing hard. Walking and talking at the same time required some real panting. I thought it must be normal.
Finally I called the doctor's office. I was told this was not normal at all. They scheduled an appointment to see a pulmonologist the next day. Yesterday I went through 3 hours of testing. They did all sorts of test, including blood tests, xrays and a CT scan. Luckily everything came back normal, except for my lung capacity. I was told there was some apparent obstruction which she did not really explain but she said that I had had major surgery and was early in healing and my lungs were just not filling up normally yet. She has put me on Advair -- an inhaled steroid. I asked about taking a steroid and was reassured that the inhaled steroids will not get into my blood stream.
I have only taken it for one day but I have already noticed some improvement. I can talk without gasping and take a walking without huffing and puffing.
To give you a little background, I was in pretty good condition prior to surgery. For example, during the last week, I visited my sons near Denver and went bike riding 20-30 miles at a time without any trouble at all. I could walk a mile in 12 1/2 minutes. No asthma. No breathing difficulties. So I was surprised to have this issue.
The GREAT news is that it seems to be easy to fix whatever is going on.
Sheri
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