My husband complained of shortness of breath. He was sent to get a pulse oximetry on room air. Results showed 80% sat. Dr. was notified and he requested the test be repeated the next day with the same result. (Patient was already using supplmental oxygen.) I told Dr. that my husband seemed to be unconscious most of the time (I could not arouse him), when he was awake, he constantly dropped and spilled things, and he was just sick acting. Patient was sent home. Three days later, my husband was taken to the ER because he couldn t breathe and started having seizures. Dr. said his problems were sudden onset and could not have been diagnosed three days earlier when he was in the doctor s office. He spent 50 days in the hospital, about 40 of them on a ventilator. Could he have been diagnosed earlier than his ER visit based on his test results and symptoms?