Brief Answer:
I would use EXECUTIVE POWER and make the call

Detailed Answer:
Good evening. My name is Dr. Saghafi and I am a neurologist from the XXXXXXX OH area of the world.

Shallow and rapid breathing in an otherwise energetic and healthy person of 57 years of age deserves a look see sooner rather than later. If she doesn't want to spend time in the ER then, your nearest Urgent care center is where you take her. Even most ER's have Fast Tracks or Rapid Tracks although I'll bet that once they see her and if she is as you're describing they're going to want to more than just a temperature and a pulse.

I think there's a chance they may want to hold her and get her tuned up.

Is your wife overweight by chance? Is she a smoker, a heart patient, a poorly controlled diabetic...if so, has she checked her sugar lately? She sounds potentially deconditioned even at baseline. If she's having any pain in the legs or calves and difficulty breathing she may be suffering from a small pulmonary embolus.

There are all sorts of bad possibilities that could be going on.

On the other hand she may only have a stomach flu or even just an oddball case of a urinary tract infection. I could even understand that she were feeling this way if she were still thinking about how the XXXXXXX Browns lost to the XXXXXXX Steelers last week when we darn well should've won.....now, THAT could keep a man in his bed for 36 hrs. no doubt! LOL.

KEEP HER WELL HYDRATED.....GET HER TO DRINK PLENTY OF FLUIDS....BIG TALL GLASSES OF SOMETHING COOL AND REFRESHING...WATER IS BEST....COFFEE, SODA, TEA ARE THE WORST.

The point is I believe your description requires that you make an Executive decision and take her in for a medical assessment....and if she passes with flying colors then, it's on for an Ice Cream at Dairy Queen or a Frozen Yogurt at Menchie's if you have such places where you are.....

Also, keep this in time...the old 911 trick.....if you call 911 (and I do think honestly you could justify calling based on her respiratory pattern you're describing, I think she could use some oxygen at least at this point)- you'll get in front of everyone else in the ER who is sitting outside.....PLUS A COOL RIDE IN AN AMBULANCE......you'll have to drive otherwise, you guys are walking home! HAHA.....

But that might beat having to sit in the waiting room for 6 hrs.

I'd like to also let you know that you can continue to send me questions directly in the future on this network by looking me up through this particular webpage:

http://doctor.healthcaremagic.com/doctors/dr-dariush-saghafi/68474

and addressing your questions to my attention (DARIUSH SAGHAFI).

I am also available for webcam conferencing (and even available tonight if your wife absolutely threatens you with divorce if you force her off the couch!) at the following address:

YYYY

I have an appointment scheduled with someone else at 10p ET tonight. If you would like to consider a 9p slot I can get you in and that way I can talk to your wife and do a limited exam of her by camera and try to convince her to get some attention if it looks like she needs it.

If you feel I've provided you with useful information to address your concerns then, I'd appreciate greatly your written feedback and a STAR RATING on this response. Also, if you have no further questions or comments to make on what I've written then, please CLOSE THE QUERY on your end so that the system can process, archive, and credit this conversation for future reference.

Wishing you all the best...and hoping we can keep the conversation going a bit to see if we can't figure this out....maybe even by camera. Even if you don't have a webcam we can still communicate through the healthtap platform by audio or texting means.

Please let me know if you want the 9p slot to communicate...that's approximately 69 min. from now.

This query required 24 min. of physician specific time for review, research, and final draft documentation for envoy.

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Brief Answer:
So what's the report Chief?

Detailed Answer:
I'm glad your wife seems to be doing better. So what's the upshot? Did she either recover back to her normal self...or get checked out?

I'm hoping the latter because it just sounded like your wife needed a good "once over" by a physician. Just sounds to me as if she hasn't been taking care of herself for some time now and things just kind of accumulated over time. Is that possible?

I'd greatly appreciate your written feedback if you feel the information provided has been valuable... a few more stars in my showcase makes it look nicer! And if there are no further comments or questions then, CLOSING THE QUERY will also be of a lot of help so they can begin processing, archiving, and crediting these messages for future reference.

You can also continue to send me questions directly in the future on this network by looking me up through this particular webpage:

http://doctor.healthcaremagic.com/doctors/dr-dariush-saghafi/68474

This query required 7 minutes of physician specific time for review, research, and final draft compilation for envoy.

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