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What if I need Oxygen? |
This is one of the greatest fears of IPF patients.
We have all seen people carting along oxygen tanks with tubes hooked up to their
noses, and it is frightening to think that we may be required to do that as well.
One man says, "I was afraid I would become dependent on oxygen and I was afraid
of how I would look in public. But I told the doctor that I needed to go on it.
I had a very active life because I was in college and I didn't want to depend on
anybody, and the oxygen freed me up to do the things I needed to do."
What is remarkable is how the benefits of oxygen therapy so greatly outweigh the
inconveniences or fears of social stigmatization. When asked how he overcame his
fears, this patient answered, "I just learned to deal with it. After a while, I
just realized that nobody was looking. The big thing was going to class for the
first time, and everybody was staring. But I stopped caring because I felt so much
better on oxygen. It was a very freeing experience getting out of the house. I recognized
that without oxygen I was hurting my other organs, and I was stagnating in the house."
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