copd or not HELP

[nanabear]

My husband has a spinal fusion last year of L3 L4 and S1 he had no breathing difficulty before or fluid retention now he can barley walk is on duragesic patch maxide for fluid retention no heart trouble at least that is what the stress test shows but the echo says bottom part not pumping right.He had a pulmonary function test that says moderate copd but the pulmonologist says he does not look that way on the ct scan so how do you tell if a person has copd and do you know what is goin on here.He can not walk but 2 minutes.

[National Jewish]

If the pulmonary function test (PFT) shows moderate chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), then your husband has COPD.  He should be treated for it.  But, moderate COPD does not cause the severe limitation of exercise tolerance you describe.

A serious problem that can occur after major surgery is clots to the lung called pulmonary emboli (PE).  In contrast to moderate COPD, PE can cause severe shortness of breath with exertion.  This problem may not be readily apparent.  You should ask your husband’s pulmonologist about this possibility.

It is also possible that your husband has had a silent heart attack.  A cardiologist could determine this by carefully checking how his heart is working.

[nanabear]

So does that mean the pulmonologist could be wrong when he says looking at the cat scan he does not have copd? He was hospitalized in icu for sob they first said it was PE then after 3 days says it was read wrong he had a persatine stress test done that was ok.He just had a sleep apnea and was diagnosed with Central Sleep Apnea he was breathing 4 to 6 breaths a minute his heart rate drops and sats in the 80s.So he is now on 2 liters of oxygen at night.Also when he had the surgey he was in recovery from 12pm until 6:30 at night before he got back at his room the only thing I was told is that they could not get his pain umder control. The surgeon said he was done at noon and I could see him in about an hour and did not hear another thing until 3:30 or so after I got upset about it is there anything that could have occured at that point for this to be going on we cannot find the answers to what is going on.

[LLRT]

Just a quick note on the post surgical wait. Its important to keep pain under control and keep the patient adequately sedated to make sure the patient does not bleed to much from the surgery they just performed. 3-6 hours after a surgery is adequate and I don't think you have anything to worry about here. After surgery, the doc is usually no longer around. It is left up to the recovering nurse to wean sedation medication slowly and the respiratory therapist to wean him off the ventilator. When all this has been accomplished, then they usually call you in to see him.

[nanabear]

So then it is not possible that anything could have given him ling damage or permanant heart trouble at that point because he went into this surgery with no breathing trouble at all and has just went down hill. Thank you I just thought it to be strange sice our daughter had 5 open heart surgeries and nothing like this ever happened.

[LLRT]

No, I don't think so. Please understand that when your heart is not pumping right that the blood backs up into the lungs. A sign of excess fluid in the feet and legs is a sign of this. Diuretics and oxygen as needed will be necessary.