Forgot to include my email address: YYYY@YYYY .
I have added it below and re-enter my question here: Good afternoon, Dr. Rynne. My sister is in an ICU with respiratory failure. She had polio as a young girl and after sitting in a wheelchair for 60 years, has very little ability to expand her lungs. She was independent, though bipap dependent at night until 10 days ago when she got very short of breath. She had been sick with bronchitis but it is unknown whether it was being treated. She went to ER. She was on a mask and not improving, so on Christmas Day, they put her on a ventilator and did a tracheostomy. Her stats are that with 60% o2, she oxygenates at about 95%. They want to see her at 40% 02 before they try her off the machine. They are now saying she may have to live the rest of her life in a facility hooked to a machine, which is not acceptable. My question for you is this: Since she is in a wheelchair anyway, so not climbing hills or running track, at what level of oxygenation could she function? If she can function at say, 50%, wouldn't it be better to get her off the machine and just let her be a little short of breath and supplementing with a cannula? Thank you!