Enquiries !

Good Morning one - and - all.

I trust everyone are as well as you possibly could be?

Well, what can I say apart from thanking you all for your treasured and lovely kind words of welcoming me to your forum. There are no words to describe how much it means to me personally.

Two weeks ago I was admitted again to my local hospital due to another, but milder exsasabaion of C.O.P.D with a culmination of Emphysema. My sats were ranging from 87 - 90 with a heart rate ranging from between 99 - 103.

In hospital, I had an X-ray done and a CT Scan with contrast. I also had my Echocardiogram. I was advised that the X-ray showed very little change from the one that was done in October 2016 and still showed an infection at the Base of my right lung and significant scaring on both lungs. The Echocardiogram showed definite LV Dysfunction and LVH. The scan showed severe emphysema at the top of both lungs

There are a few visible changes in various areas of my body of which are :- edema has spread further up my mid shin area from my feet and has gone to a darker colour of deap blue. I have to ask but we noticed that my veins are very much visable in my right arm leading up under my inside right armpit and tracking up around my right shoulder going to my neck. I have discolouring on the inside of my left arm, like a large bruise and some of it in various other places on my body. Can someone please tell me if if this is normal and/or tell me what's happening as my veins, discoloured skin, and other markings only started to apear from the beginning of January. Would appreciate and welcome any honest explinations if possible please? Sorry for the extremely long post but a lot has happened.

[O2Trees]

Veins can become very raised - i think it's an adaptation of copd. And if you've had a lot of steroids in your life your skin is likely to become thin and bruise very easily. The bruises are a very intense purple colour. Almost just brushing against something will produce one for me. So maybe your markings are like those G_M70? But maybe someone else will have further ideas.

I hope you're getting treatment to clear up the infection you still have.

[SquirrelsHolt]

Hi there Hidden and my advice would be to call your Doctors and book an appointment or if like in my area,that's hard to get one today, why not try the BLF helpline which is here on their website as they have trained medical staff answering calls and could possibly advise you.

If you've noticed the problem since January then it'd be wise to take action now,before maybe it does get any worse. Sorry I can't be anymore helpful but do come back and tell us your progress etc.

Wishing you all the best. x

[Damon1864 Volunteer]

The advice you have been given is spot on, please go back and see your GP or phone the BLF helpline,at least it will give you some piece of mind. Keep in touch and lat us know how you are doing. Take care 😊 xxx Bernadette

[Watfordgirl]

Hello G M70, it's nice to see you again but I'm sorry you've been back in hospital.

I'd love to be able to help but I'm afraid we're not doctors. It's also difficult to get a reliable idea from a description. What puzzles me is why nothing was said when you were in hospital?

It sounds as though it's due more to your heart problems than the COPD. It also sounds as though you have steroid bruising as O2 has said - don't worry about that. But I do think you need to have a conversation with your GP - or do you have a follow up appointment at the hospital? Maybe a phone call to your GP would help because he/she will have had a discharge letter. You need to know what's going on with your body!

And a visit from a district nurse would be nice - to advise you about care of the skin on your legs etc.

I'm going on a bit now! Take care. Let us know what happens.

Sue x

[Hidden]

Feedback On Enquiries.

Good evening one and all, Wow, thank you for all your valued comments and replies, hey are much appreciated.

I am very fortunate to have such a respectful G.P and two others at my local surgery. Although I am wheelchair bound and housebound, I am well educated and knowledgeable with the multitude of complex chronic ill health conditions, most of my consultations are over the phone unless they need to see me in person as it was in this case after asking here for advice etc.

I received the hospital discharge letter as did my G.P and with that, it was most informative for us both although it wasn't completely good news but at least we know what is going on and what can or can not be done on the matter.

As it stands, I now have an LVD (Left ventricular dysfunction) of which basically means congestive heart failure (CHF) that causes coronary artery narrowing or ischaemic heart disease which is the dominant cause of heart failure because it has to work harder to pump the blood oxygen around the body and vital organs such as the lungs. This is partly the cause of my lower feet and mid shins turning dark blue colour known as oedema and progressing over a short time. They tell me its congested blood flow disorder and why my veins are thrombosing causing them to be more visible and unusable to cannulate or extract blood from for testing.

Finally, after having the contrast CT scan, it shows in the results that I have severe Emphysema in both upper lungs and I have now Progressed to "Stage Three" Not the results we would have liked to hear as many of you are already aware of what that means? Because of the heart issues and the emphysema, the clinician teams have told us that this is the reason why I am much more lethargic of late and in bed for longer periods after getting breathless doing the simplest of tasks.

Thank you once again and hope to speak again soon. In the mean time, keep as well as you possibly can and take care out there where everyou are in the world. x