It's all so confusing

[carotopgal]

Hi all. I'm new to this community. I'm a member of the RA community (for myself) and I thought that I'd like to join this community (for my husband) to try to get more knowledgeable about his emphysema. My husband was diagnosed 17 years ago with his emphysema. Time has passed and we hadn't thought too much about it (head in sand syndrome ). Then in October 2015 the doctor put him on oxygen 24x7 and it really scared us. We had no idea he'd gotten so much worse. We just saw our GP this week and he's upped my husband's oxygen to 3 liters and has added another inhaler (Advair) to his already Combivent. While we were at the appointment, I asked the doctor what stage my husband was at. I was shocked when he said "the highest stage". How can that be??? What is entailed with being at stage 4? I'm so confused. He has never been hospitalized and he hasn't ever had a lung infection of any kind. The doctor had my husband walk around inside the building for a few minutes (while on oxygen) then took his readings. His readings went to 76. That's bad isn't it? My husband is so stoic, I never know when he's struggling. I'm frightened and I thought this would be a great safe place to share my fears and confusion. Thank you for listening, and if you have any insight I'd love to hear it.

[PMRPete]

Put Emphysema into the "Search British Lung Foundation" box, it's on this page top right.

You will find most of the previous answers to your questions.

[carotopgal in reply to PMRPete]

Thank you! I will do that.

[mrsmummy]

Welcome to the forum. I hope being here alleviates some of your fears.

[Annabele]

Gosh !! , I'm not much help ! Thic copd I dident have Two years ago !!! I've had resperity failure twice in a year !!! I believe I'm lucky to be here !!!!! No one has told me my prognosis , I've never been offered oxygen ( tho I believe too much my lungs can't cope with and it turns to co 2 poison )

But I do think when some one is diognosed very early more could be done !! I ha early don't know !! I think the n h s is a wonderful thing tho !!!!! ,and I am learning soo much from every one in this site ! I'm sure someone on it will be of help to you tho !x

[carotopgal in reply to Annabele]

From what we understand, my husband should have been put on oxygen quite some time ago. We just had no idea he was so bad. Looking back, we should have done more research when he was diagnosed and pushed for better treatment. I don't know if it would have made a difference or not.

I'm sorry that you've had such a rough time. I hope you don't have any more scares like you have had!!

[diesel12]

Bless you both, it's such a worry isn't it? Just try and encourage him to exercise as much as he can and eat healthily and badger your doctor for more information. I have a nurse who is great if I have any questions or worries so see if your surgery has a specialist nurse to support you. xx

[Dedalus]

Exercise and good diet best things to try to improve/keep his lung function stable. Your husband should ask his GP/respiratory nurse to refer him for pulmonary rehabilitation, which addresses both. This is a great site to learn more about COPD. Good luck with everything.