Sign-in to Ask A Doctor - 24x7
OR
Sign in with GoogleGet your health question answered instantly from our pool of 18000+ doctors from over 80 specialties
Suggest Treatment For Shortness Of Breath And Cough
Not sure you will be able to help.. My 85 year old mother went o the emergency room last Thursday morning with shortness of breath and coughing. They admitted her because her electrolytes wee low...specifically her sodium was 120. They x-rayed her lungs and she had fluid all around them so they gave her Lasix...a couple hours later she had a seizure and stopped breathing...they were able to put her on ventilator. Tested her sodium again and it was 117. The family had her transferred to Baylor Dallas. Once there she was monitored, put on sodium drip, antibiotic iv, catheter, a heart respiration monitor until the next evening...was taken off ventilator and put on oxygen and sodium was tested again. From there they did a chest x-ray, checked her kidneys, checked her heart. Kidneys ok. Heart ok, except early congestive heart failure. Lungs had area at bottom left lobe but they didn t think anything of it or at least they said it was probably collapsed. Moved her out of ICU and into another room. Told us she could go home in a day and to follow up with a primary care giver. Let me preface this by saying my mother only has Medicare...which explains the rush. We protested on the day they said she could go home. We had no answers, she wasn t even off the oxygen, which she has never had to use before, the catheter wasn t out, she had not even gotten up out of the bed, she was very weak and her heart was going up and down. A different Doctor quickly agreed that she should not leave yet. Update a day later. The doctors had her sodium, potassium and magniesium levels stable and they started dropping immediately lower every day. We pressed for some kind of answer. She had lost 65 pounds in the last year along with muscle wasting and no energy. She has a meningeoma on her frontal left head and one on her spine by her neck. These things we already knew and so did they. Finally they came back with well she could be producing a hormone from the meningiomas that is keeping her from having the correct sodium level or it could be cancer. So we asked them... well what about the area o her lung? They had no answer. We told them we wanted to do a body scan. They said they also were considering that. They ordered a body scan. Here is the latest update...she has arterial fibulation, CT scan showed shadow on the left lung, they think it could be pneumonia...hello? we asked them that and they said no 2 days earlier . he has too much CO2 in her blood, they don t know why yet. Her pancreas has inflammation and they will need to do a more in depth study on that. They have decided that the hormone secretion is the problem...I don t know how they know that now but didn t know that before the scan? That s it. What are we supposed think?
Mon, 13 Jun 2016
Hi Dear !! Thanks for your query to HCM .
Read and reviewed your query and health concerns.
IN the given situation of Your of your mother,she seems to have suffered from-Atrial fibrillation with CCF with meningioma with low sodium levels with basal atelactasis left lung with hydrothorax due to CCF?
Dear,the facts show that she mostly had undetected and missed out adrenal insufficiency/ or adrenal fatigue for her age, from stressful cardio-respiratory problems with age added Atrial Fibrillation-which was lately diagnosed.
Meningioma does not seem to be causing hyponatremia in your mothers case.
Other causes for this precipitation of shortness of breath with coughing could be -aspiration pnuemonia, from reclining position, atelectasis from hydrothorax.
Do's suggested-
Consults with Cardiologist and Pulmonologist with correction of the AF and Adrenal insufficiency with right medicines accordingly, would resolve the issues of CCF with cough and shortness of breath, your mother had.
Meticulous care by the critical doctors team and right followup care would resolve the multiple and complicated health issues your mother has at 85 yrs age.
Dear Such events IN missing diagnosis, is the god directed event and what doctors can do-is to attend and correct the given health complexities in given patient like your's.Its GOD driven fate in ones case, which leads to events as is experienced by your ailing mother.
Second opinion with attending Cardiologist on these lines would resolve your anxiety more.
Hope this would help you to plan further of this complex illness of yours.
If need be, update any health issue 24 x 7 by a direct question to ME, at following HCM link-
Dear, if satisfied,Don't forget to close this query with YOUR pleasing feedback comments to rate this reply and service, to boost the morale of incoming Emergency patients like YOU, at HCM services.
If you want to update more details and ask more update queries ,
You are most Welcome herewith !!
Good Day!!
Wishing Good Healthy Life in time to come!!
Dr.Savaskar M.N.
Senior Surgical Specialist
M.S.Genl-CVTS
Read and reviewed your query and health concerns.
IN the given situation of Your of your mother,she seems to have suffered from-Atrial fibrillation with CCF with meningioma with low sodium levels with basal atelactasis left lung with hydrothorax due to CCF?
Dear,the facts show that she mostly had undetected and missed out adrenal insufficiency/ or adrenal fatigue for her age, from stressful cardio-respiratory problems with age added Atrial Fibrillation-which was lately diagnosed.
Meningioma does not seem to be causing hyponatremia in your mothers case.
Other causes for this precipitation of shortness of breath with coughing could be -aspiration pnuemonia, from reclining position, atelectasis from hydrothorax.
Do's suggested-
Consults with Cardiologist and Pulmonologist with correction of the AF and Adrenal insufficiency with right medicines accordingly, would resolve the issues of CCF with cough and shortness of breath, your mother had.
Meticulous care by the critical doctors team and right followup care would resolve the multiple and complicated health issues your mother has at 85 yrs age.
Dear Such events IN missing diagnosis, is the god directed event and what doctors can do-is to attend and correct the given health complexities in given patient like your's.Its GOD driven fate in ones case, which leads to events as is experienced by your ailing mother.
Second opinion with attending Cardiologist on these lines would resolve your anxiety more.
Hope this would help you to plan further of this complex illness of yours.
If need be, update any health issue 24 x 7 by a direct question to ME, at following HCM link-
Dear, if satisfied,Don't forget to close this query with YOUR pleasing feedback comments to rate this reply and service, to boost the morale of incoming Emergency patients like YOU, at HCM services.
If you want to update more details and ask more update queries ,
You are most Welcome herewith !!
Good Day!!
Wishing Good Healthy Life in time to come!!
Dr.Savaskar M.N.
Senior Surgical Specialist
M.S.Genl-CVTS
I find this answer helpful
Disclaimer: These answers are for your information only and not intended to replace your relationship with your treating physician.
This is a short, free answer.
For a more detailed, immediate answer, try our premium service
[Sample answer]
Related questions you may be interested in
Loading Online Doctors....