Wednesday, April 27, 2016

I wish this was available then!



In 2005 I took my Grandparents on vacation. I wish we had the Healthcare Technology we have now back then. They retired many years prior. They spent their days in a small lake house on Lake Murvaul in East Texas. They didn't fish much. They didn't own a boat and they had a hard time being away from their home due to the need for Oxygen Therapy. They didn't really have any hobbies. Their family was their hobby. They attended Baseball, Softball, Football and other activities their grandchildren participated in but always had to drag around cylinders and regulators just to have portable oxygen. They were smokers. To my knowledge they had always smoked. Looking back at pictures of me at the age of 3 or 4, you could find my Grandmother or Grandfather holding me with a Cigarette hanging from their mouths. Some may be shocked by the thought of someone smoking while holding a toddler but it was a different time and smoking was just part of their lives. They had started smoking before we knew what the consequences were and are. Years of smoking packs of cigarettes a day had damaged their lungs and in their later years prevented them from going, doing and seeing what they wanted. After all these years, it still stings a little when I think that they had just missed technology that could have changed their lives in profound ways.

By 2005 they both required Oxygen therapy. This made taking them on a trip very difficult. My wife and I decided that we wanted to gift them a vacation and include the entire family. We searched and planned and decided that a trip to the beach would be manageable. We rented a beach house on Galveston Island big enough to hold my Grandparents, all of their kids and Grand Kids. It’s a memory I cherish. We enjoyed great meals, dominoes, cards, movies and all around Family fun. Using a beach house allowed us to store the Oxygen Concentrator, Tanks, Stands, regulators, soft goods and all of the equipment and supplies we would need for a week’s vacation. All together the equipment for both of them weighed well over 500lbs. The oxygen equipment alone took up one room in the house. In those days oxygen wasn't even close to being portable or affordable. So we made the best of it. They didn't get to spend much time on the beach. They were kind of tethered to the beach house because they needed to be close to their oxygen equipment. They still had a great time. They were just very limited on what they could and couldn’t do. My Grandfather did venture out to the beach once during the trip. It literally zapped him. His oxygen saturation dipped into the 60s and his trip was pretty much over.

That was then. This is now. My grandparents may be gone but the need for light weight portable oxygen is as great as ever. Let’s Fast Forward to 2016. Cross Medical currently rents an all in one portable oxygen concentrator that weighs less than 7 lbs. I personally believe that the ability to travel, move about and spend time with one’s family is critical to overall health and wellness. Consumers now can board a commercial airline with all of the oxygen they will need in a bag the size of a small purse. They can now go on a cruise without worrying about leaving their oxygen. All of the oxygen they need is in the small bag on their shoulder. Had we had that technology back then, they WOULD have been able to walk on the beach, go on a shopping trip or play with their Great Grand Children in the surf. Unless you are looking for it, you would never even know someone is wearing one of these new systems.

I can’t look back with regret about the things they couldn't do. The technology just wasn't there at that time. What I can do is educate our public on the fact that this technology now exists. You can spend time with those living with COPD of CHF. These patients can jump in a car, catch a flight or book a cruise without the fear of being away from their oxygen. They can get out and move about with worrying about their oxygen supply. They can LIVE life to the fullest!

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