my husband is in the hospital

[sn0wstar40]

Yesterday, My husband got so short of breath that we took him to the emergency room, they admitted him, They've taken to sets of x-rays, but, won't tell him much of what is going on, the doctor did say he'd be in the hospital for a while, and something about his COPD being asperated or something like that, does anyone know what that is? I'm really starting to worry , because no one is really telling us anything. Is it something we should be very concerned about? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank You, Michele D.

[National Jewish Health]

You have a right to insist that your husband's doctor sit down and explain to you, your husband and an interested third party, such as a relative, exactly what is going on.  The word you heard, in describing his chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), is probably exacerbation or exacerbated.  If his doctor is unable to answer your questions, you should request consultation by a lung specialist.  If you are still not satisfied with his doctor's communication with you and your husband, you should ask to speak with the hospital patient-representative.

If this is an exacerbation, which is an acute worsening of his COPD, one would need to know the severity of the exacerbation and the severity of his underlying COPD to answer your question about being concerned.

Good luck.

[SusanB1965]

I'm not totally sure but what I think they might be referring to is an 'exacerbation'. These are common with COPD patients and they may experience a rapid, sometimes sudden, and prolonged worsening of symptoms (cough, amount of mucus, and/or shortness of breath) Although they can be serious most often treatment with certain medications (antibiotics, bronchodilaters,corticosteroids, etc) and sometimes oxygen they can recover to the point they were before the experience. Also, they may try to determine what caused the exacerbation. One third of the cause of these episodes are unknown.
I would be concerned, but not overly concerned. I hope this helps you somewhat. Good Luck! Take care!

[SusanB1965]

I'm not totally sure but what I think they might be referring to is an 'exacerbation'. These are common with COPD patients and they may experience a rapid, sometimes sudden, and prolonged worsening of symptoms (cough, amount of mucus, and/or shortness of breath) Although they can be serious most often treatment with certain medications (antibiotics, bronchodilaters,corticosteroids, etc) and sometimes oxygen they can recover to the point they were before the experience. Also, they may try to determine what caused the exacerbation. One third of the cause of these episodes are unknown.
I would be concerned, but not overly concerned. I hope this helps you somewhat. Good Luck! Take care!