My wife has stage 4 emphysema,what do I look for next as this progresses?

[cz4806]

3 yrs. ago my wife was diagnosed with COPD. At that time she was put on oxygen part time and within 3 months she was on 24/7 at 3 liters. 2 yrs. ago her saturation level walking was 97 and this year at rest it was 89. Last lung capacity test was 18% and that was about 1 1/2 or 2 years ago, it's too stressful for her to have another so she has refused to take another. She was also told at the beginning that she was a prime candidate for a transplant, which she refused. She has also refused in patient steroid treatments. She has made no effort to be more active to help her condition. Are there more stages of emphysema? What do I look for next as she will just keep getting worse? How much time, approximately,  would be the best guess as to how much time do I have to get her affairs in order before she passes?

[hava]

Tell your friend to do this pranayam daily, and you do it as well. The oxygen level in the lungs and body will start to improve. Let me know when you start to notice the benefit.
Build up your timing gradually.If you feel tired or dizzy, stop and resume after one minute.
Anulom Vilom pranayam –
Close your right nostril with thumb and deep breath-in through left nostril  
then – close left nostril with two fingers and breath-out through right nostril  
then -keeping the left nostril closed  deep breath-in through right nostril
then - close your right nostril with thumb and breath-out through left nostril.
This is one cycle of anulom vilom.
Repeat this cycle for 15 to 30  minutes twice a day.
Children under 15 years – do 5 to 10 minutes twice a day.
You can do this before breakfast/lunch/dinner or before bedtime or in bed.Remember to take deep long breaths into the lungs.You can do this while sitting on floor or chair or lying in bed.
March 20 ,2011

[debbiedeb205]

mother my bestest friend in the world has copd with 40% oxagen she cant walk to far without having problems breathing I want to learn more about it cause if there is something i can do to help her i want to...My thoughts andpreayers go out to each and everyone one of you dealing with someone or yourself that has copd..my god bless you all.

[little_weed]

Miranda,
My thoughts and prayers go with you.
There isn't an hour or a day goes by, without me thinking of my mum who passed away two and a half years ago. There isn't anything harder than the last memories of a loved one slipping away.
I make mum part of our everyday conversation, and talk to her in quiet moments and not only does it keep her memory alive, it takes away the pain. She herself recited the poem about "only being in the next room" not long before she left us.
I am so glad she left us before my diagnosis . . .

[miranda111]

my father passed a week ago with emphysema after 12 years of first being diaognosed, it is a cruel disease which slowly in capacitates the person for many years my father was able to act a notmal life, then over the past 5 years he has has lung collapses and become more thin even though he eats like a horse, he was unable to now walk short ditances and without difficulty, recently he was admitted to hospital they said he was fime and that i was to go onto holiday even though my father was seeing things and talking to people who wernt there i put it down to hospital medication, I went on holiday and had carers in place the next thing three days into my holiday i got the dreaded phone call he had died even though he looked well i still cant get the images of him looking through and around me in hospital as if there was something rlse with us !!!!

[MrsPinas]

I understand what you mean about your wife not wanting to go thru the lung function test. My husband feels the same way. He has to do a stress test but pain he goes thru after the test. I try and tell we need to know if his heart is in distress. I'm sorry for your loss. Several family member's have past away from Cancer. It's very hard for the care givers to watch our loved ones suffer. We can only make them comfortable and supportive.
Keep your head up.
My prayers.

[cz4806]

Believe me I do try and be positive and help as best I can but she does nothing to keep active. I can't even get her into the car to go for a drive because she has anxiety attacks because she is afraid of running out of O2 in her tanks. She was told at the onset that if she would get out, walk just a little more each day it would help her breath better but she has yet to do anything like that. I ask her if she has and she keeps telling me no, she doesn't feel like it. She knows what it means and that it will help but at her last check-up her specialist told her the same thing again and said straight forward that it might be too late to do any real good but it still could help a little. Again she hasn't even tried. She has no cough but about 2 or so yrs. ago she had a lung function of 18%. She refuses to have another because it is too stressful for her breathing. I can only guess that it well below 18% now. Her pulse ox 3 yrs ago was 98 walking and in Apr. it was 89 sitting. This is the second time I am watching someone I love die. We lost our youngest son, Mark, on Dec. 26th 1998 at 6:30 PM from a recurrence of bone cancer after it attacked his lungs that time. He was 22. thanks for your reply and prayers. My anti-depressants seem to be working so that is some help.

[2673560810]

Exercise made me much better because my muscles don't need so much oxygen.