they should have named this thing the suckinator

seen from Singapore

seen from Germany
seen from Cyprus
seen from South Korea
seen from United States
seen from South Korea

seen from United States

seen from Germany
seen from Italy
seen from Algeria

seen from T1
seen from Australia

seen from Russia

seen from T1

seen from T1

seen from Singapore

seen from Japan
seen from United States

seen from Singapore

seen from Uruguay
they should have named this thing the suckinator
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
[ID: Image of a field of tiny white ‘baby’s breath’ flowers, surrounding one brilliant red poppy. Title reads, ‘Spirometer, written by ForErusSake, read by Thimblerig’ End ID]
Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 盗墓笔记重启 | The Lost Tomb Reboot (TV), 盗墓笔记 - 南派三叔 | The Grave Robbers' Chronicles - Xu Lei Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Wang Pangzi/Wu Xie Characters: Wu Xie, Wang Pangzi, and a Xiaoge cameo in a flashback :) Additional Tags: Character Study, Recovery, Love, Caretaking, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Crying, Late Night Conversations, Domestic, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Suicidal Thoughts, Mental Health Issues, Terminal Illnesses, (or are they?), Podfic, Podfic Length: 30-45 Minutes Summary:
Loving Pangzi is as easy as breathing. That is the comparison Wu Xie used to make, before his lungs started rotting away, before Thunder City and his miraculous recovery. Wu Xie’s lungs may be cured now, but other things take more time. In the aftermath of his illness, in the aftermath of almost dying, with fear and guilt like a constant weight pressing down on Wu Xie’s chest, comparing his love for Pangzi to breathing of all things doesn’t quite seem to work anymore. Not like it used to.
Perhaps Wu Xie has it all wrong though. Perhaps the comparison was never about the ease, but about the effort. Recovery is much the same in that respect. Luckily neither of them have to do it alone.
heart test
A recent character design for Medical International Research, the character is based on one of their Spirometer machines.
Preparing for physio day. Today's lab is on spirometry.
Traditional Japanese Doctors--ugh
Thought I would share what a visit is like with my doctor. This is kind of typical, especially when we are concerned about something or want a change/adjustment/whatever. If we just come in, check in, get out and get our meds, we have no real issue.
I want to preface this by saying that this doctor came with very good reviews. He is one of the top pulmonary/lung specialists for asthma in all of Japan. He has given lectures, taught most other doctors, lots of books, awards, etc etc. I am guessing he is around 50-60 years of age, his son also has a practice (I think). My husband didn't choose this guy lightly. He is also the only nearest practitioner for...well, miles. The next one is about a 2 hour drive--ONE way. To be on insurance, we have to go as often as the doctor feels is necessary, or every month for refill reasons or something like (I am a little uncertain of the details). There is a large hospital in the big city a little closer that calls in specialists from the prefecture--but that means we have a good chance of running into him again. Talk about embarrassing. If we go somewhere else, we burn a bridge--and I am not willing to do that just yet. We may still seek a second opinion just for the second opinion, though. Japan is also really weird on the hierarchy thing within the medical system, and there is a very tight in-bed going on between insurance, pharmacy and the doctors. AS you can see, this is very complex. So there is a little background. Been going to this guy for about five years now, I think.
Okay, so I go in yesterday feeling not so hot. My peak flow was around 570--a good number for me--but I was feeling. Something. My breathing was slow, but shallow. Inhale was less than exhale, but the exhale was pretty long. Extending the exhale or shallowing my breath didn't help, but I got some relief from my reliever. So I let the doctor know that I wasn't feeling to good. Then, I decided to ask, in my broken Japanese, why I can have asthmatic symptoms even though my peak flow was good. I also asked him about why I can wake up feeling like I run a marathon or did hard exercise in the middle of the night.
Now, I know the answers to these. Between a good book, lots of online articles, and forums like this website, I know that the former is due to small airways acting up while larger ones are still okay. I took choir and singing for years--my breath control is awesome, even if my lung functions are lacking. I also know that the sleeping thing is basically me having a flare in the middle of the night and sleeping through it. But I wanted to see what the doctor said. I guess you could call it a small test. I also tried to make this clear that I have noticed this for YEARS, not just recently. I think that got lost in translation.
For the former, about high peak flow but options--he did this...hmm, good question thing. He didn't have an answer. He took out the SpO2 device to check my oxygen. On my device at home, I usually stick at 98 and occasionally dip to 97. I almost never go to 99. There is a 1 point difference between the doctor and mind. His says 99 for my 98. Today, it said 100--so he said hyperventilation. For both questions. ::insert eye roll here::
I know that arguing won't do anything, but I tried to let him know that I really don't have any hyperventilation feelings. It is *different*. My breath may be shallow, but it is really really slow. No headache, no tingling--and my breath only quickens when I do stuff. I wanted to explain in more detail, but that was the best I could do.
So he says, okay--we how about we do a spirometer and pulmonary test. Yay. I don't know how to explain all the tests. Basically, the first is some kind of breath control (something I have always done pretty easily). You blow in and maintain your breath so that the marker is in the green zone. There was another inhale/exhale test. Then I put my mouth around this device that did a weird pulsing. That always feels weird, I hate it. Then I did some more in and out breaths. These had a up-down graph (up for inhale, down for exhale) and a spiral. I did notice that on this one, there was a number up in the right hand corner that--i think--said temperature. The number was something like 29--well, over 20 and under 30--this will be important in a minute. Anyway, needless to say, doing the test was rough. I had to take a LOT of breaks, and I coughed horrible after we finished (and a few times between takes during this final bit). then I got a breathing medicine thing. Not sure what it is--you hold this little glass vial and inhale a kind of steam. This stuff usually helps a lot.
In we go. The doctor says that my lung functions have improved greatly over the last year! Yay! Well, I am hesitant. I really want him to do this in the winter, when I am really bad. But I didn't say anything at this time. I think he said the other tests indicated a slight hyperventilation And then--
Now this is where that temperature thing is important. He looked at that number and basically was like--wow, something IS going on here. This is too high. It is usually only like that when there is some allergen irritating the lungs. So he explains that I am basically sitting on a volcano. The allergen hasn't fully manifested as an allergic reaction, but it is close. This is probably why I felt like crap.
You have no idea how badly I wanted to say "See, I TOLD you so. I told you something was wrong and it wasn't hyperventilation!"
So he took some blood to send to a lab to check for what the allergy might be and set me up on an IV plus a pred for the next couple of days to keep it under control.
Of course, a wonderful long-time friend asked an important question that I didn't even think about--why a blood test? Why didn't he do a prick test, or if he isn't an allergist (which he isn't) why not refer you? Excellent question. I don't have the answer. But if we don't get a good answer from the blood work, or even if we do, we will probably refer ourselves if he doesn't.
Right now, there are a couple of possibly candidates for the allergen. First up, and highest on the suspect list, is my dog. We got him almost two years ago and I didn't show any issues until recently. Had dogs and cats all my life, so this becoming an allergy would really really suck. I love animals. Another possibility is the left over stirring of dust and mold spores from the remodel. Lower on the list are things like pollen and whatnot. I also went on a long trip around Japan with my mother--so something could have come in from that. Dunno.
Meanwhile, we are adjusting how I interact with my dog until we get a clear idea of how to deal with this. I wear a mask with him, we are increasing vacuuming, I have a smock to wear when playing/interacting with him, no more upstairs for him, and we willy try to increase his brushing. Also, wash hands a lot.
We will find out for sure what the blood results are next week. Then we will go from there. But yeah, this is the kind of battle I have to fight. Having a monopoly like this is horrible--no accountability, no need to stay up on the latest research, etc, and no choices for the patients. He may be good for old people who are used to the traditional: he is a doctor, no questions, just do what he says. Not good for someone like me who, the only reason I was found to have asthma was because I ASKED to be tested. Seems like I have to be in charge here instead of the doctor :/
Right now, I am feeling pretty good--but the last few days I seem to go down-hill in the evening, so we will see how I am later today after classes and whatnot. Luckily, I only have four classes today with a free afternoon.
World Asthma Day | May 4
On World Asthma Day, Labotronics highlights the importance of respiratory health and routine lung function assessment. Spirometer LB-10SPR supports measurement of key respiratory parameters, assisting clinicians in monitoring and managing asthma effectively in clinical settings.
Labotronics observes Pulmonary Rehabilitation Week by highlighting the role of the Spirometer LB-10SPR in lung function evaluation. The system measures breathing capacity and airflow patterns, assisting healthcare professionals in monitoring respiratory performance and supporting pulmonary rehabilitation programs in hospitals, clinics, and diagnostic laboratories.