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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Is There Any Treatment For Final Stage COPD In 80 Year Old?

my 80 yr. old father fell yesterday while in the hospital, CT showed everything was fine and he was discharged. Today he started the day off coherent but clumsy. Within a couple of hours he was mumbling, unable to answer questions, bp starting dropping, heart rate increased and sleeping a lot. We were already connected to a branch of hospice due to his C.O.P.D. and when the R.N. came by to chk. on him we were told that these were all signs of a slow bleed and we had two options. 1-take him back to hospital where there wasn t anything they would be able to do because of final stages copd. 2-keep him home and cherish what time we had left. We choose to keep him home. my question : did we make the right decision?
Thu, 23 Jul 2015
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Pulmonologist,  's  Response
Thanks for your question on Health Care Magic.
I can understand your father's situation and problem.
By your history and description, possibility of type 2 (hypercarbic) respiratory failure is more in his case. It is common in COPD patients, due to expiratory flow limitations. So carbon dioxide remains in the body and it is known as hypercarbia. Excess carbon dioxide suppress central nervous system (CNS - brain). So patient feels drowsy, sleepiness, lethargy etc.
It is reversible condition with ventilatory support.
So in my opinion, you should take him to the hospital and start ventilatory support to clear hypercarbia. Once hypercarbia is clear, he will be alright.
So consult pulmonologist and discuss all these.
Hope I have solved your query. Wishing good health to your father. Thanks.
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Is There Any Treatment For Final Stage COPD In 80 Year Old?

Thanks for your question on Health Care Magic. I can understand your father s situation and problem. By your history and description, possibility of type 2 (hypercarbic) respiratory failure is more in his case. It is common in COPD patients, due to expiratory flow limitations. So carbon dioxide remains in the body and it is known as hypercarbia. Excess carbon dioxide suppress central nervous system (CNS - brain). So patient feels drowsy, sleepiness, lethargy etc. It is reversible condition with ventilatory support. So in my opinion, you should take him to the hospital and start ventilatory support to clear hypercarbia. Once hypercarbia is clear, he will be alright. So consult pulmonologist and discuss all these. Hope I have solved your query. Wishing good health to your father. Thanks.