Stages of COPD....could someone help me?

[sunshine2756]

My father has COPD. He has been sick with this for about 6 years. I am now 26 and when I was 6 years old he had part of his lung removed. I am not sure why(he was fine then). For about 4 or 5 years he has gotten worse like tonight he sounds like he is drowning. He went to the doctor and they sent him home (that i do not understand). His normal oxygen level is about 76. This is on a good day. Is he in the last stage of COPD? We had to take him to the ER not long ago and his oxygen level dropped very low (to 52) and they admitted him and he was in ICU for 3 days. I do not understand what his risks are with not having all of his lung on one side and the other damaged so bad. He can't sleep at night even under his oxygen, he takes 4 or 5 breathing treatments a day and we have to keep him indoors during extreme heat. The thing is he still smokes 2 or 3 packs a day after all this damage he has done. He just turned 53 the other day. What should I expect? Thank you!

[National Jewish]

It is very difficult to tell you what to expect because every person is affected so differently by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).  What can be said is that your father will advance from one stage of COPD to the next stage at a faster rate as long as he continues to smoke.  This will generally decrease his quality of life and his life expectancy.  The most important thing that your father can do to help himself is to quit smoking.  It is not possible to say that this will stop his progression to the next stage of COPD, but it will slow down the rate of progression.

To help your father to quit smoking, you may want to look at our Just Quit Online program at http://www.nationaljewish.org.  Also check with your father’s doctor for other quit smoking resources in your area.

Each stage of COPD is based on symptoms and measured loss of pulmonary function, especially the forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1).  The FEV1 is the amount of air that can be forcefully expelled in the first second of exhalation.  It is an indicator of airway obstruction and how far the disease has progressed.  Normal is 80% or greater of the predicted value.  The predicted value for a given individual is based on age, gender and height.

There are 4 stages of COPD:
At risk Stage 0 Normal pulmonary function
Mild Stage 1 Mild reduction in air flow
Moderate Stage 2A FEV1 50 to 80% of predicted
Moderate Stage 2 B FEV1 30 to 50% of predicted
Severe Stage 3 FEV1 less than 30% of predicted

Your description that “he sounds like he is drowning” is a little unusual with COPD.  This may be due to heart failure.  It is possible for heart failure to add to his shortness of breath.  Please check with your father’s doctor to see if this could be an additional problem for him.

[starion]

There are many good materials that you and your family can read to find out more about COPD & how to help optimize your dad's lungs & health.
One of the most important things is for him to QUIT SMOKING & avoid all lung irritants.
You can get great free info from www.NationalJewish.org, particularly their MedFacts and Understanding series.  You can also get info mailed to you by calling your local branch of the American Lung Association.
It would be good to ask his doctor if he could enroll in a pulmonary rehabilitation program to help learn more about appropriate exertion & how to optimize his treatment program.

Your dad's doctor should be asked about SPECIFIC info about HIS condition.  In particular, the doctor could evaluate him to determine whether he needs supplemental oxygen--at least, upon exertion and while sleeping.

Best of luck!  Your dad is lucky you are such a loving and caring daughter.
Aloha,
Starion

[bird977]

A related discussion, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was started.