Personal Narrative: Lung-Function Test

I am an oxygen molecule and will be going on a journey through the respiratory system. I begin my journey in the nose. In the nose I am being inhaled and prickled by tiny little hairs that filter me. I am also being moistened by mucus, green/yellow slimy mucus. Now I am sliding through the adams apple or voice box, into the trachea and the pharynx. Leading me into the bronchi tubes I am being seperated into the tree like branches called brochioles in the lungs. As the tubes get smaller and smaller I make my way down to the alveoli, which are smaller air sacs that fill with air when you breathe. In the alveoli there are tiny blood vessles called capillaries. The walls of the alveoli and capillaries are very thin. Finally by the alveoli

Patient 2: The patient had an infection in her lungs with an unknown cause. I was on alert for drops in oxygen levels below the patient’s normal range, increases in blood pressure above the patient’s normal range, and the patient’s activity tolerance without the BiPAP machine. I was also looking for signs of a DVT.

Patient outcome consisted of performing 10 deep breaths per hour. We have reviewed details that were difficult for the patient to remember, such as breathing out before placing the lips on the mouthpiece, and holding breath for 3 to 5 seconds at the top of each inhalation. With empathy, I provided understanding that being hospitalized is never easy due to sensory overload, pain and lack of privacy. Additionally, we have discussed the basic pathophysiology of lung inflammation and what it can do to a person. So overall, the outcome included enhanced disease knowledge with effective use of incentive spirometer.

I felt nervous because the patient was complaining of having a difficult time breathing, so I was afraid that he would stop breathing while I was taking care of him

I couldn’t sleep. I looked at my somewhat dim, water powered alarm clock, wondering what time it was. 7:43. Way early. Despite being awfully comfortable, I got up, figuring I was just hungry. As I walked the the kitchen, I pondered about my snack. Carrots and orange juice usually is the best choice. ( This is actually a good midnight snack! You should try it! ) I made it to the fridge. As I opened it, I took in the cold air against my warm, cozy fur. Then I realized, that I was sweating. I dropped the blanket I had wrapped around me. Much better. I grabbed my carrots and orange juice, dragged the blanket behind me and took my time getting back to my room. I hopped onto the bed with my snack in hand, and turned on the TV with the remote. The button let out a quiet ‘click!’ as I pushed the smooth, plastic button, before the TV turned on.

Spirometry; During this painless test, a technician will ask you to take a deep breath in. Then, you'll blow as hard as you can into a tube connected to a small machine. The machine is called a spirometer.

The first encounter was a patient, experiencing shortness of breath (SOB). I first wanted to assess if the situation was emergent. When I walked in the room the patient was able to speak clearly, his was not cyanotic, he did not appear to be in respiratory distress or in need of immediate intervention. My goal form there was to figure out the cause of the SOB. He had told me he had been experiencing SOB for three days, on and off, and that it had happened in the past. He had no history of chronic respiratory illness. We talked about his general medical history, which included hypertension (HTN). He is on Lasix, which he does not take as prescribed due to frequently urination. Teaching was done on the

I did not know if I had a serious problem that would require surgery, or that I was okay and nothing too serious was wrong with me. As I sat in the examination room, I began to panic. I was terrified to know what the doctor would say or do to me. My fears were confirmed when he entered the room and he gave me a worrying look. He said that a x-ray was needed to see exactly what issue I was having, but he already knew what was wrong with me. After I had the x-ray taken, he came back to my examination room and said “I’m sorry, you have Kyphosis and will need

Spirometry is the most popular lung function test. The patient performs a maximal inhalation and then forcefully exhales as quickly and as long as they are able. The spirometer measures the volume of the air exhaled by patients. These measurements are taken at two intervals. The first measurement is the forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), records the volume of air exhaled after one second. The second measurement is taken at the point where the patient has fully exhaled the volume of inhaled air; this measurement is the forced vital capacity (FVC) (Harpreet Ranu et al.,

A 62 years old male who was scheduled for emergency orthotropic liver transplantation because of hepatitis C cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma and end stage liver disease. He had history of remote tonsillar cancer for which he underwent extensive surgical resection including part of his tongue as well as a skin and arterial graft from his left arm to his posterior pharynx. This was followed by radiation therapy which is associated with ongoing hemoptysis. On Examination, he is thin. Examination of his airway was concerning for an extremely limited mouth opening, and very limited neck extension. His thyromental distance also short and his throat was quite woody in that area. He had only 18 mm of inter-incisal mouth opening with muscle spasm.

On Thursday I woke up to an email from my employer that I start my training that day. Which was a good start for the day. On Thursday I had my second relaxation lecture. In the lecture we had the qualitative breathing exercise. During the exercise, I was so focused on working my diaphragm that I did not realized I am not exhaling through my mouth until the end of the exercise. I got relaxed during the exercise, however I feel I respond better to quantitative breathing than qualitative even though my skin temperature increased during this exercise. While I was doing the exercise seated, my stomach moved outward, however in the stand position I did not feel much movement of stomach.

“Good, because it 's only five days away!” I smiled at the nurse; she was nice. The whole time we talked, she was doing something with the mask. I wasn 't sure what it was, but I was too scared to ask. After a few minutes, I was told to sit still while the nurse covered my mouth with the mask. She told me that once my whole mouth was covered I had to inhale deeply. Then she put the mask over my mouth. Once my face was all covered with the mask, I inhaled the sweet tasting gas just like I was told. I thought about how good it tasted, then I thought about nothing.

The willow tree outside my window swayed to the beat of the windchimes on the porch. The sun softly revealed itself through the morning haze. My bed is soft and familiar at this time in the morning. But Mack insists that she has an emergency and needs me there. This could be nothing, or it could be something. I argue with myself for a couple minutes, just go back to sleep Mack will be fine. But then, when I close my eyes again, I think to myself, what if Mack is in serious trouble? I guess this means I am going to have to get out of bed. I roll out and barely land on my feet. I begin to debate on whether it is worth it to get ready, but I realize that I do not want to argue twice with myself this early in the morning. Mack will just have to enjoy my stretched out grey V-neck and blue cotton shorts.

The patient is instructed to take in as big a breath as possible, to seal his or her lips around the mouthpiece of the spirometer and to blow the air out as fast and as fully as possible. This must be done with full effort and reproducibility. (Arnold D.H., Gebretsadik T., Minton P.A., et al.; 2007)

It started off as a perfectly normal day. I woke up in the right atrium of the heart, and said goodbye to my wife, Pie and my three children Pizza, Fries, and Cheesecake. You’re probably wondering, why are we named after fatty foods? Well, our home Bobby Johnson is not very healthy. He needs to work out. Keep that in mind for later. After I left the right atrium, I squeezed through the tricuspid valve. That brought me to the right ventricle. From there, I went into the pulmonary valve and then the pulmonary artery. Remember how I said I visit the Pulmonary Co. Headquarters everyday? Well, this takes me there (the lungs). So, I got there to pick up oxygen. I picked it up in pill form because the ear was complaining about not having enough. I exchanged the pills for carbon dioxide, a waste gas. From there, I traveled back to the heart in the pulmonary veins. Those took me to the left atrium. As that room filled up with other blood cells, including some friends and colleagues like