Bob's Story

Diagnosis:           Emphysema •Pulmonary Fibrosis• Diabetic Neuropathy
Prescription:     Oxygen at 5 liters continuously• Nebulizer with Albuterol and Atrovent QID 

As someone who has worked in the respiratory business for many years, the diagnosis and prescription listed above are all too common in my daily routine.  But this time, they were more than just another patient’s home discharge instructions; they were my Dad’s. 

Dad started on oxygen in 1990 after battling his COPD for a few years.  On a summer afternoon, he was told by his pulmonologist that there wasn’t enough oxygen in his blood, and he would need to wear oxygen at 2 liters per minute with exertion.  He was then set-up with a DME company which brought out several E tanks and a cart for ambulation.  As a stubborn Irishman, Dad rarely used them, and within a year he suffered an acute exacerbation of the disease, which he was hospitalized for.  He was discharged from the hospital with oxygen at 5 liters 24-hours continuously. 

After several months of complaining about the heavy weight and lack of time the E tank gave him for his social life, Dad heard about another home oxygen and respiratory provider and was quickly introduced to liquid oxygen.  His  saturation of peripheral oxygen (SpO2)  could not be maintained over 90% with an oxygen conserving device, so Dad choose a liquid oxygen portable unit which weighed 5 pounds less than his current E tanks and lasted three hours.  He also chose to rent a second portable unit so that he could be away from his house up to six hours at a time!  The only time I remember Dad being limited in his social activities after liquid oxygen entered the picture was when his scooter battery died on the railroad tracks in downtown Glenview, IL.  The local fire department gave him a ride home and he still had plenty of oxygen!

Dad lived life fully despite his pulmonary disease and not being able to walk or stand due to the diabetic neuropathy.  He had a great will to live and live fully; enjoying outings with friends, volunteering at civic functions, and traveling to Indiana, Texas, and Hawaii.  He was always one of those “chronic lungers” who never complained about the hand he was dealt at the age of 64. 

Dad began smoking in 1943 as an eighteen year old kid when he went off to fight in World War II.  At that time, whatever health officials knew about the dangers of smoking was not common knowledge.  Then came a thirty-five plus year addiction until Dad quit smoking in 1978.  By then, the damage was already done and the term emphysema entered his vocabulary.  During his career he was also exposed to several chemicals in treating wood products, which opened the door to pulmonary fibrosis. 

Dad retired in 1989 and within one year, was started on oxygen.  Like many pulmonary patients this is not what he had planned for his golden years. 

Dad’s excellent care and commitment to his own education and wellness is what I believe kept him active, happy, and healthy for ten years.  His attitude inspired my wife and me to make a business commitment to helping other oxygen patients live a great life despite their disease.  In October of 1999, our business, Oxygen One, Inc., began helping other respiratory patients live active lives like Dad’s.

Dad blessed our family once again in his gracious and peaceful attitude when on Memorial Day, 2000 he decided he had had enough.  No more endotracheal tubes, no more breathing machines.  He had lived life fully and he was prepared to die.  He was discharged home on Friday afternoon to his home of 44 years where he and his wife raised seven children.   He was ready to join his wife and daughter in Heaven.  By the next day he became unconscious and began Cheyenne-Stokes respirations.  On Sunday afternoon, June 4th, with his sons, grandson, and family beside him, Dad took his last breath.  As we said a prayer, held hands and kissed him goodbye, one of my brothers reached over and removed the oxygen cannula from his nose.  It had been ten years since we had seen Dad’s face without the tubing on it…now he was breathing and walking in heaven without the oxygen and scooter.

Today, I see the tremendous impact Dad has had on our patients’ lives.  I come to work every morning knowing that God has blessed us with the opportunity to inspire and help others live life with oxygen until the day that the tubing is no longer needed.