I did a test run of an active day yesterday.  I went out to the community center to try out my new oxygen system.

I decided to split my work out to really see how it performed on the two pieces of equipment I normally exercise on, the row machine & the exercise bike.

I don’t know that I saved that much air on my e-tank from before, but I certainly didn’t do any worse. The great thing was I wasn’t wasting air like normal because I could turn it down to the lower or moderate settings for driving & going back & forth to the center & general walking around.

It’s a lot harder to adjust on the fly in the car or while walking with a standard oxygen gauge without equipment like this.

I also found a more comfortable way to wear it for exercise so it stays in place better & is out of the way.  Once it breaks in a bit more I’ll be able to more comfortably use my wireless headphones again.  I tried but it was still just a touch too uncomfortable right now in my ear area.

I used my running belt to anchor it & it seemed to do the trick, but I did order some climbing hooks (carabiners) just to compare & see if that’s easier to anchor it to my jeans or pants.

[I’m going to do a few shorter exercise sessions the rest of this week since the new company is still coordinating my first delivery & what I have as far as tanks still has to last me through the weekend possibly.   So I’ll reserve the Niov just for exercise now & continue to use my portable concentrator from my old supplier for walking around & going out on short runs since I still can. ]

But I noticed with this device I was much less fatigued after exercise, my oxygen levels were better (more stable) & I didn’t have to take ANY breaks like I normally do.  I usually on the rower have to row in 5 minute increments then rest a minute before resuming.

I didn’t drop lower than 93 on it which is a huge change from usually 94 being a high for me while exercising (90 is the absolute lowest safest oxygen level for most people. Some doctors will let us “lungies” go to 88 at the absolute cut off but ONLY IF we are wearing oxygen & are supervised).

I felt supported the whole time.  I came out of my session feeling worked but strong. Not exhausted.

I was also able to charge it a little while I was exercising which was an added bonus.

This is a huge relief to me because now I know I have something that will work for me to keep up my listing requirements & will work for all my activities once I’m fully up & moving.

I’m glad I at least can test it out & use it to meet my most critical needs now until my first delivery of tanks comes through (which I know always does take some time to coordinate no matter how good the supplier mainly because the switching, billing, & insurance set-ups takes a bit to fully process. Also some suppliers only make deliveries on certain days of the week).

I will most likely for this week just shorten my sessions by 10 minutes just to make sure I have enough to get in my usual days & work outs in for the rest of the week.

The great thing is I’ll have to stockpile some, but not nearly the immense amounts of tanks I’d have to otherwise even if I am using more for exercise.

I know I can be out & about with one spare & be good for much longer than I would be otherwise.

Or if I make a run to my transplant center for a doctor’s appointment I can take half the amount I’d normally need & ride more comfortably & not worry about charging or running low. Or take a mix of a big & a few small tanks too.

It will be really nice to have options now.

I’m really glad this technology is available & I am posting about it because I know it will help others who are waiting for transplants but also women I know with my lung disease & other lung diseases.