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Mister Oxygen

The current COPD Digest has a fine feature story on Pete Wilson.

Pete Wilson has built the world's best web site about supplemental oxygen.

It's packed with great stories, helpful plain-English descriptions of oxygen equipment, and links to huge amounts of information on other sites.

Scan down this page for Pete's own story and a photo of Pete. He needs oxygen 24 hours a day -- a lot of it. But look at Pete's photo. Notice something peculiar? Pete doesn't seem to be  wearing his oxygen. You can't see it in two photos in COPD Digest, either.

How come?

He uses transtracheal oxygen, hidden behind his collar and tie. You can read about that in Transtracheal oxygen: The Scoop. (You'll have to scroll down the Q & A page two or three times to find this item.)

The used-organ salesmen

What's the riskiest organ transplant?

The lung. Riskier than the heart, liver, or anything else.

Get a lung transplant today, and you have about a 50/50 chance of being alive in five years.

But at least you'll know you're in good hands, right? A transplant is a pre-owned organ, but hospitals are not used-car lots. You know the government, or SOMEBODY, is making sure organ transplant centers are meeting strict quality standards.

Wrong.

The Los Angeles Times shows that transplant programs stay in business year after year, even when their patient death rates are excessive.

So if you're in the market for a used lung, you'd be wise to do your homework. Start with this web site: The UNOS link to data on all US transplant programs.

The LA Times story demonstrates that UNOS, the United Network for Organ Sharing, has a lot of shortcomings. But it publishes good information, including survival rates for different transplant programs in your state, and across the country.