Dr. DiMeo and Obama

Today we went to Rich's pulmonologist, Dr. DiMeo. Both Rich and I really like this guy. He is thorough, compassionate, honest, experienced, and up on current methods, trends, and research. He also listens carefully and teaches what he knows so that you can understand and be better informed.

Today is also the day that President Obama selected to give his "State of the Union" address before congress. As a physician, Dr, DiMeo has shared some of his feelings about the government and health care, i.e. H1N1, medicare, and the hoops that he has to go through to treat his patient as he feels is important.

Well, during the course of our visit one of the questions that we wanted answered was about the oxygen that Rich is using. We wanted to know whether this was something that he could wean off of or whether it was something that he would probably always need. Frankly, he said that future use and need was unknown at this time but he had done a resting pulse-ox on Rich and felt that when Rich felt comfortable he could go without it when he was sitting quietly or at his desk. He told us that having it at night was crucial or at any other time. He also warned us that there would be times that he would just "need" it and to use it then. And he also told us that under times of stress, anxiety, agitation, or excitement he would also need it. Then he said, "So that means that you need to be wearing it when you're watching Obama tonight!" We just roared. It was sooooooo funny. Needless to say - when Obama came on we watched our new DVD of "Chuck" (season 2) and didn't put ourselves through it. LOL

Also - just for note - Rich has lost an additional 3 lbs in the past 2 weeks and his lung functions had improved to 38% - the first improvement in a very, very, very long time! Yea!