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Major Power Outage and another hospital follow up

I have stage 4 copd, emphysema, on 02 24/7. Hospitalized jan 11-14, then hospitalized again Jan 24-26. Put on 2 week course of Prednisone plus antibiotics. Still on those meds. Also have chronic anxiety, and severe panic attacks.

POWER OUTAGE:
This Tues 3:30 the horrid beeping that the 02 concentrator lost power. Whole neighborhood lost power. My first thought, stay calm. I immediately did my rescue inhaler. Reached for flashlight I keep within reach of my bed. I sat up slowly and got to my back up 02 tank at foot of my bed and got it going. Took my Xanax for anxiety as it kicks in quicker. Did my breathing techniques. After 5 minutes power came back on! Thank god I thought. 4:30 am. That horrid sound AGAIN. All power off. Immediately did 1puff rescue inhaler. Turned emergency tank back on. Took 7.5 oxy as prescribed to help breathing and pain. I had 02 tank set at 2cf. Did breathing exercises and did best to stay calm. I knew if I stayed very still and calm I would not use as much 02. Set my 02 at 6 and off continuous flow and put on my pulse oximeter. After 20 min 02 down to 89 so put back to cf2 til 02 got up to 95. Kept this up til 7am when power came back on. Immediately put my concentrator back on but after maybe 1 minute all power off again. So kept doing same routine. Took anxiety med again, and my 40 mg of prednisone. Spare tank lasted about 1-3 hrs.
Power came back on at 5PM. For 5 minutes and went back out. Never got out of bed. I keep a male urinal next to my bed and used that frequently. I also keep snacks, back up rescue inhaler, nasal moisture spray, water's, back up meds glasses n more in a storage bin on my bed. Cause just sitting up can cause breathing issue and then anxiety, a bad loop. Son was there to help starting that morning. Literally hundreds of thousands of people in our Central Texas area were without power. Couldn't get thru to 911. Had son charge phone in car. I had gone thru 4 tanks so far, only 2 left, and phone connection to news said it could be days. We finally got 911 and fire dept out. They could not transport cause I was not critical enough. Power came back on about 7:30. Stayed on for 30 min. Off again. Well an hour later in came back on and has been on since. The last night, though power on at 3am there was thunder n lightning. Anxiety sky high. At 4 am I hear cracking and a crash outside my bed window. Tree branch down. At about 5 I hear more cracking times 3 and then a large crash and bang against my other bed window. We've had power since but its Friday now and there are still literally still hundreds of thousands still without power. My heart and prayers go out to all those people but being reliant on 02 to stay alive adds a whole new terror. So please check yourself, do you have emergency supplies within reach, back up meds in case you cant walk out to get them yourself, do u have snacks, water. I am home alone most the time n was lucky to have my son there. Gonna be buying one of those emergency phone chargers for sure and some type of backup supply if I can afford.

This is what fell outside my bed windows and it was when the ice freeze stopped.

  1. Hi Paul, and thanks for sharing all this with the community. You went through quite an ordeal at home - my heart goes out to you. I am glad to hear that your son was so helpful and right there with you. It is so important to have a strong support system. It's also commendable how you were able to maintain your own composure, staying calm through these multiple and lengthy power outages. I am quite certain it was your demeanor and disposition that helped you to get through this ordeal successfully.
    I hope this never happens to you again!
    Warm regards,
    Leon (site moderator COPD.net)

    1. I have been told to ask your insurance for a generator. I'm going to try that myself just haven't got around to it yet. But you should definitely check into it and you should qualify. Stay strong

      1. What an ordeal, Paul! You were so calm through this whole situation. I admire your commitment to taking things one step at a time and trying not to panic. These storms are no joke, especially when you can't reach emergency services. Is there anything different you want to do moving forward? Thanks so much for sharing this important story with us. I hope you don't have to worry about this again for a long time! -Melissa,copd.net team

        1. My solution for this situation is that I purchased a home generator, however since money was an object I have to get it running myself after I make sure carbon dioxide is going out of the garage. It provides power for concentrator, fridge, furnace and my garage door opener....I have made it a practice to get it ready as soon as the weather starts getting bad...

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