I'm writing about my mom, who is sixty and very sick. She has early emphysema, but that's not what I'm writing about. For the last four weeks (approximately) she has had a very hoarse voice, bad cough, and has been couphing so much that she ends up gagging. One doctor diagnosed this as bronchitus and treated her accordingly.
She has asthma and has been taking oral steroids, which she says are contributing to her hoarseness. I do not think this is the whole story. There is something else going on here.
She keeps saying that she's getting better but I'm very concerned that she is not getting better at all. It sems like she starts to get better and then it gets worse again. Does anyone know what could cause a hoarse voice for so long? What kind of doctor should I take her to see?
I'm very frightened by this all, especially because I went to see her last night, and she seemed very out of it. My mother is normally a very sharp lady, and a wonderful person to sit down to dinner with and converse with. (Among other things, she asked my boyfriend what he thought of our dinner the night before with family friends; an event that he was not present for. She kept insisting that he had been there, that she was sure she'd seen him.) I'm not sure if this is due to the medications she is taking, or could be the indication of a larger, more serious condition.
The other night she called me up very late at night, and told me that she was really not well. (I believe she had just woken up). She was sure that I was in her house, and was concerned that she had just hallucinated me. Please