I'm new here! I just want to get some advice mainly on people's experience with COPD and symptoms. Grandad is 86 and is very frail, has been a smoker for life. He also has suspected cancer in the lung and ureter with the ureter looking more likely.
However he recently got diagnosed with COPD this year through a spirometry test. He then contracted pneumonia on 17th Dec and his oxygen and blood pressure dipped so much he was turning purple. His oxygen had never dipped below 96 and never needed oxygen.
He was hospitalised but seemed to develop what they called oropharyngeal dysphagia (difficulty swallowing) he is at risk of silent aspiration.
MY QUESTION IS? Did anyone else experience dysphagia with COPD or whilst having a chest infection with COPD?
They are not doing any further investigation due to his "guarded prognosis" and his fragility. So I'd really appreciate some insight here. Please somebody he'll.
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Danielle2419
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I have ILD (Interstital Lung Diesease ) & get subjected to extreme tiredness at every slight move I make. Just getting up off my couch & taking 2 steps to my front window to my lounge is exhausting
My oxygen base rate is 88-92 % & Ive been hospitalised 16 times because my oxygen levels dropped to nos in the 40s, sometimes even 50s
I had a procedure done in 2022 in sheffield hospital & I found out I had Pulmonary Hypertension as well & the left ventricle is enlarged
Welcome to the forum, Danielle. Your grandfather sounds rather like my dad, who was diagnosed with emphysema in his early 70ies. He never managed to give up smoking, but soldiered on into his eighties, frail in body but tough in spirit. I hope your grandfather will pull through this crisis, but I can't really offer any advice. They never told you anything in my dad's day.
Hi Danielle2419 and welcome to the site. I am so sorry to hear your grandad is having these problems, it is such a worry when they are older and you cant get any help. My mum was almost 88 when she died and smoked like a trooper, wouldnt consider giving up and at that age and I didnt push it. She did have problems swallowing in her last week and had to have water from a spoon , I wasnt sure if this was due to her lying down in bed most days, she was in the hospice then and the nurses dealt with the day to day health problems. You can ring the help line above 0300 222 5800 I am sure they can advise. I do hope your grandad can get some help with this x
Very sorry to hear that your Grandad has some health issues. I hope he is as comfortable as he can be.
Dysphagia can occur along with COPD because our breathing is compromised ie when we are trying to swallow some food along with an involuntary breath in. It can cause issues.
A friend's father in his eighties used to have swallowing issues. Every so often I'd escort him to a private hospital for a procedure to shave off some of his epiglottis which had swelled in older age. He used to wait until it was really bad then call the consultant for an appointment. The epiglottis is a flap of tissue that sits beneath the tongue at the back of the throat. Its main function is to close over the windpipe (trachea) while you're eating to prevent food entering your airway. He didn't have copd though and lived well into his nineties .
NB I'm not suggesting for one moment that this is what grandpa has, just putting my/his experience out there
I don’t think there is a direct link between dysphasia and COPD, unfortunately as we get older we tend to collect an assortment of conditions. I have emphysema (COPD) and hiatus hernia and lazy oesophagus, the hernia causes reflux which aggravates my oesophagus and lungs. Prior to medication it caused my oesophagus to swell preventing me swallowing. My emphysema was diagnosed by CT scan and broncoscopy when being investigated for lung cancer.
Interesting, his also being investigated for lung cancer. Why did they investigate you? He has a lesion in his lung they think could be that or could be related to the rheumatoid arthritis which causes nodules in the lungs. But they can't investigate further due to his fragility after 2 hip operations and contracting delirium.
I coughed up a quantity of fresh blood, the subsequent x-ray showed a mass in one lung. I then had CT scan and broncoscopy which ruled out cancer, they then tested for TB and when that was negative they did a biopsy. The biopsy showed the mass was a fungal ball and I had aspergillosis, but the CT scan also showed I had emphysema as well.
The silent reflux is an issue for me. One thing that has helped a lot is raising the head of the bed so that the acid cannot come up into the gullet at night. Your grandad may be in danger of aspirating food rather than acid, but I think it would also help with that.
You can do this in several ways. You can put a bed wedge under the mattress (available from Amazon and other outlets) or you can buy 'elephant feet' bed raisers which are like an upturned can made of heavy duty plastic that you sit the feet of the bed on ( not easy if it's a divan with drawers, though. These are also available through Amazon and cheaper than the wedges).
Otherwise, it might help him to have support from more pillows so that he is sleeping or sitting at an angle. There are shaped pillows that might help.
I have also been advised to take Gaviscon Advance four times a day (after meals and before bed). This makes a 'raft' and prevents the stomach contents coming back up. However, I don't know if the texture would be ok for your grandad. For example, my friend with dysphagia couldn't manage yoghurt or bread and butter but could eat toast due to the different texture. There is a lot of advice online about managing dysphagia and I found some of the hospital 'Information for Patients with Dysphagia' helpful when trying to understand my friend's condition. I understand there are different levels of dysphagia, so if you haven't been told what level he has, it might be helpful to find out as this would give you better understanding of what he can safely eat and drink.
I had aspiration pneumonia years ago when I had a stomach bug and inhaled my own vomit. This is thought to be the cause of my bronchiectasis, so I think anything you can do to stop your grandad aspirating food, drink or vomit would be really beneficial to him.
Also, it may be worth asking a nurse about lung clearance techniques as there are different ways of dealing with the secretions when people become more frail.
It's great that you're finding out what you can to help your grandad. I hope my post has been helpful but you can always ignore it if it isn't.
Thanks so much for your reply. We haven't been told what level it is, it was just discovered from his recent pneumonia infection. Nonetheless I'm glad his oxygen levels are 98% with copd for 86 Yr old smoker, his doing great. I know he is taken some syrup to help bring up any secretion/mucus etc. I think it's mucodyne. Which seems to help, he seems to be doing well with eating for now and even during hospital despite being on level 6 diet. He can feed himself and is doing rather well. Thanks very much for your advice.
I'm so pleased to know your grandad is doing well despite his recent health issues. If he's on a level 6 diet, that's what I was referring to. Best wishes to you both. Xx Moy
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