COPD, what will 02 saturation be at sea level?
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I suffer from lung disease (IPF) and I used to live in the Rocky Mountains. After my diagnosis I moved to the West Coast (Oregon). Prior to my move I was on oxygen 24 hours per day - after relocating to sea level, I only use it at night and when I exercise. I have lived here 3 years and am still in better shape than I was at altitude with polluted city air. Make sure your husband brings his oxygen with him and he uses it at night. He will see a marked difference in the way he feels during the day. In spite of what many people think, a difference of 5,000 feet in elevation makes a huge difference to those of us who don't have full functioning lungs. He will feel like a new man. Enjoy your trip, and make sure he uses his oxygen at night.
I would not expect his 02 sat to vary too much with altitude - his problem is more related to physiology than the make-up of the air surrounding him. Take the oxygen!
I am on oxygen (have been for five years now) and I have traveled from where we live at 3800 feet to sea level. My oxygen is set at 2 and I use it 24 hours a day. At sea level I turned down my oxygen to 1 as the oxygen is much better there. Traveling through the mountains when we reached higher elevations I had to turn my oxygen up to 3 or I got a bad headache.
Please keep him sleeping with his oxygen though. You can turn it down but going without oxygen is very hard on your body. Your heart has to work harder. That is why they recommend you sleep with oxygen, you give your body the rest it needs.
I wish you all the best with your holiday and with your husbands health...
It could be slightly higher at sea level. Perhaps it would, but I wouldn't count on it being significantly higher.
You can have another home oxygen company or another branch of your company meet you somewhere and provide you with an oxygen system. They can even meet you in the airport.
There are now portable oxygen concentrators that can be carried with your husband for the entirety of your trip. They are the size of a gym bag, have a battery for about eight hours (and various adapters to run on 12V and house power), and can supply up to a liter per minute of oxygen through a demand-type nasal cannula (makes it work like far greater oxygen flow). This might be all he needs. Please talk to your home care company about this option. It might make for an easy trip.
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