Guest guest Posted June 11, 2008 Report Share Posted June 11, 2008 Steve, The doctor honestly just shrugged and attributed it to the general unpredicability of these lung diseases. I'm not the first person whose pft's mysteriously improved and I won't be the last. I'd attribute some of it to the weight loss but it's hard to figure out the difference in the DLCO. Weight loss really shouldn't affect it, you know? Beth Age 48 Fibrotic NSIP 06/06 Change everything. Love and Forgive Tired but happyDate: Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:43:12 -0700 (PDT) Hi everyone! As you all know I had my 3 month check today at Duke. I had a PFT the results of which really surprised me. The spirometry portion was improved somewhat. The FVC for instance went from 55% of expected to 59 % of expected. Nice but nothing to get too excited about. My volumes were all well above 50% of expected. My TLC for example was 59% of expected up from 45%. Very odd. But most curious was my DLCO. Normally the diffusion doesn't really improve for us, it generally only goes down. Mine went from 47% of expected back in March to 59% of expected today. The respiratory therepist had me do everything over and over to make sure we were getting valid results. Needless to say I'm very happy with this. It may be a one time thing and I could go right back down next time but for now I'm very happy. Everything else was good, I've lost 36 pounds, my crackle has not returned and Dr. on is very pleased. I don't have to go back for 4 whole months unless I run into trouble. After my appointment I met up with Ann from Charlotte and her husband. She mostly lurks on the board but she got in touch with me since she had an app't at Duke today too. So we had a nice chat over coffee this afternoon. Her tests went really well and she sees the doctor tomrrow. Keep your fingers crossed for her, she's nervous. So that's the story, I'm exhausted but relieved that I got good news! Thanks for the support everyone! Beth Age 48 Fibrotic NSIP 06/06 Change everything. Love and Forgive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 12, 2008 Report Share Posted June 12, 2008 That's fabulous news MB I'm so pleased for you Love Ze xx>> Hi everyone!> As you all know I had my 3 month check today at Duke. I had a PFT the results of which really surprised me. The spirometry portion was improved somewhat. The FVC for instance went from 55% of expected to 59 % of expected. Nice but nothing to get too excited about. My volumes were all well above 50% of expected. My TLC for example was 59% of expected up from 45%. Very odd.> But most curious was my DLCO. Normally the diffusion doesn't really improve for us, it generally only goes down. Mine went from 47% of expected back in March to 59% of expected today. The respiratory therepist had me do everything over and over to make sure we were getting valid results. Needless to say I'm very happy with this. It may be a one time thing and I could go right back down next time but for now I'm very happy. > Everything else was good, I've lost 36 pounds, my crackle has not returned and Dr. on is very pleased. I don't have to go back for 4 whole months unless I run into trouble. > After my appointment I met up with Ann from Charlotte and her husband. She mostly lurks on the board but she got in touch with me since she had an app't at Duke today too. So we had a nice chat over coffee this afternoon. Her tests went really well and she sees the doctor tomrrow. Keep your fingers crossed for her, she's nervous.> So that's the story, I'm exhausted but relieved that I got good news! Thanks for the support everyone!> Beth > Age 48 Fibrotic NSIP 06/06> > Change everything. Love and Forgive > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 12, 2008 Report Share Posted June 12, 2008 Jane, I do think that there is an element of that.... I've taken these tests enough times now that I'm comfortable about knowing what to do, how to seal my mouth around the mouthpiece, what the breathing patterns are and how to accomplish them without stressing myself into a coughing fit. Once we learn it and are comfortable with the process it probably does help us to perform a bit better. I do notice a big difference in the quality of the testing equipment since I came to Duke. No comparison to my little community hospital in Rockland County NY. There was only one person up there who was even qualified to give a PFT. That's mind boggling when you think about it. Beth Age 48 Fibrotic NSIP 06/06 Change everything. Love and Forgive Re: Tired but happy MB, Those are great test results and I know you're feeling so much better now. When my DLCO went up, my doctor told me that it was because I had learned to do the test! Heck, I've been doing it for ten years, what do they expect????? Toodles! Jane UIP/IPF 12/1998 Dalton, Georgia aka pianolady_musicgirl > >> > Hi everyone!> > As you all know I had my 3 month check today at Duke. I had a PFT the results of which really surprised me. The spirometry portion was improved somewhat. The FVC for instance went from 55% of expected to 59 % of expected. Nice but nothing to get too excited about. My volumes were all well above 50% of expected. My TLC for example was 59% of expected up from 45%. Very odd.> > But most curious was my DLCO. Normally the diffusion doesn't really improve for us, it generally only goes down. Mine went from 47% of expected back in March to 59% of expected today. The respiratory therepist had me do everything over and over to make sure we were getting valid results. Needless to say I'm very happy with this. It may be a one time thing and I could go right back down next time but for now I'm very happy. > > Everything else was good, I've lost 36 pounds, my crackle has not returned and Dr. on is very pleased. I don't have to go back for 4 whole months unless I run into trouble. > > After my appointment I met up with Ann from Charlotte and her husband. She mostly lurks on the board but she got in touch with me since she had an app't at Duke today too. So we had a nice chat over coffee this afternoon. Her tests went really well and she sees the doctor tomrrow. Keep your fingers crossed for her, she's nervous.> > So that's the story, I'm exhausted but relieved that I got good news! Thanks for the support everyone!> > Beth > > Age 48 Fibrotic NSIP 06/06> > > > Change everything. Love and Forgive > >> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 12, 2008 Report Share Posted June 12, 2008 Jane, I do think that there is an element of that.... I've taken these tests enough times now that I'm comfortable about knowing what to do, how to seal my mouth around the mouthpiece, what the breathing patterns are and how to accomplish them without stressing myself into a coughing fit. Once we learn it and are comfortable with the process it probably does help us to perform a bit better. I do notice a big difference in the quality of the testing equipment since I came to Duke. No comparison to my little community hospital in Rockland County NY. There was only one person up there who was even qualified to give a PFT. That's mind boggling when you think about it. Beth Age 48 Fibrotic NSIP 06/06 Change everything. Love and Forgive Re: Tired but happy MB, Those are great test results and I know you're feeling so much better now. When my DLCO went up, my doctor told me that it was because I had learned to do the test! Heck, I've been doing it for ten years, what do they expect????? Toodles! Jane UIP/IPF 12/1998 Dalton, Georgia aka pianolady_musicgirl > >> > Hi everyone!> > As you all know I had my 3 month check today at Duke. I had a PFT the results of which really surprised me. The spirometry portion was improved somewhat. The FVC for instance went from 55% of expected to 59 % of expected. Nice but nothing to get too excited about. My volumes were all well above 50% of expected. My TLC for example was 59% of expected up from 45%. Very odd.> > But most curious was my DLCO. Normally the diffusion doesn't really improve for us, it generally only goes down. Mine went from 47% of expected back in March to 59% of expected today. The respiratory therepist had me do everything over and over to make sure we were getting valid results. Needless to say I'm very happy with this. It may be a one time thing and I could go right back down next time but for now I'm very happy. > > Everything else was good, I've lost 36 pounds, my crackle has not returned and Dr. on is very pleased. I don't have to go back for 4 whole months unless I run into trouble. > > After my appointment I met up with Ann from Charlotte and her husband. She mostly lurks on the board but she got in touch with me since she had an app't at Duke today too. So we had a nice chat over coffee this afternoon. Her tests went really well and she sees the doctor tomrrow. Keep your fingers crossed for her, she's nervous.> > So that's the story, I'm exhausted but relieved that I got good news! Thanks for the support everyone!> > Beth > > Age 48 Fibrotic NSIP 06/06> > > > Change everything. Love and Forgive > >> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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