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Worried about my Husband.

Gaymay profile image
8 Replies

I am worried as my husband who has COPD and also had two heart attacks, is not well. His breathing has deteriorated somewhat in the last 6 months and he is losing a lot of weight and is always tired and cold. He has been to the doctor and he has to go for a chest x ray. He may be worrying about the chest x ray, because since he has been told that he must go is seems very withdrawn. He doesn't tell me how he is feeling, because he doesn't want me to worry. I am at my wits end. Any advise?

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Gaymay profile image
Gaymay
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Izb1 profile image
Izb1

Hi Gaymay and welcome to the sight. Sorry to hear your hubby has had so many problems. Perhaps you could explain to him how you feel, that not talking about his condition is worrying you more, go with him to the doctors and tell the doctor how worried you are about his condition and perhaps by bringing everything out in the open it will help you both to face and deal with these health conditions. If he is a private person and doesnt want to discuss this then you have to respect his wishes, difficult I know. Sometimes it is easier to discuss things with a total stranger than our nearest and dearest. The blf has a helpline that he could call if he wanted to speak with somebody. I do hope that you can get him to understand that his silence is making you worry more. Irene x

Izb1 gave really good advice.

Gaymay: Just know, also, that losing weight is good when you have COPD as there is less pressure on the diaphragm and it's easier to breathe.

Also, if he had two heart attacks, did he happen to go into surgery during that time? Just being given an anesthetic during surgery, can cause the breathing to get worse. They give oxygen during surgery and the body thinks it is still being supplied the added oxygen. (I researched this very, very fully and complete and although my doctor says that is not true, I know it was true for me each time I was given an anesthetic and put to sleep even just for small things like a liver biopsy and having my appendix removed).

I would not be on oxygen. Then, I would go into the hospital for the procedures and when I got out I would need to go on oxygen again for another 3 months.

I work out every weekday to the PBS show, SIT AND BE FIT. That is enough to keep me fit enough so I do not need oxygen anymore. (If I did not really try and get the exercising in, I know I would have had to stay on oxygen after the last procedure which was the Appendectomy).

Also, when you have COPD, you are always tire out easily. It takes a lot out of a COPD person just to taken in air. That fact is easy to research. And we are prone to being cold, for the same reason.

I am just telling you things you may not know especially is you, yourself, do not have COPD.

Hopefully you are worrying yourself for nothing and all is what it should be with the COPD.

I wish you luck and pray he is doing all he can to help his body cope with the COPD....

*(I am sorry, I just assumed he was probably on oxygen, but the information I gave is still good to know if they ever want to do a procedure that involves any anesthesia. It sounded as though, about the same time, after the heart attacks the breathing got worse?)

Damon1864 profile image
Damon1864Volunteer

Hi Gaymay it must be a worrying time for both of you, but let you husband know how you feel and how worried you are. I can understand why he is worrying but he needs to know how worried. You are too. It's not easy watching someone you love making themselves even worse because they are worried or frightened, but try to reassure him and just support him it will help. You could always speak to his nurse and ask her to have a word with him too. Please let us know how everything goes with the X-ray, and try to stay positive . Have a great day and take care of yourselves. 😊 Bernadette xx

I am sorry to hear about your husbands health, he must be fed up with all these issues. It’s not always easy to talk about the things that frighten us and it can be even harder to play the supporting role. I haven’t really got any advice as such, I just didn’t want to ignore your posting. Izb1 gave some good advice - ring the helpline and see if they can suggest anything for you. Hope the X-ray goes well.

Foxy79 profile image
Foxy79

To Gaymay

I'm foxy79 I'm very sorry to hear about your husband and you have to go through all this I have copd broncechtisis respiratory type 2 asthma emphysema pseudomnas I'm on bibep machine nublizer and oxygen I'm 37 anyway it's the worst time with copd winter and again it could be other reason to may be a chest infection or medication has built a resistance best would be get a blood test and sputum test with xray or mainly blood and sputum they are more accurate I hope you find the answer and ever goes well for you 👍 if you do need advice please just ask that's why we are here as a family to help each other take care

It's obviously a worrying situation for you and your husband and unfortunately worrying can make it worse. The suggestion of a chest x-ray may have made him now worried about the possibility of lung cancer, especially with the weight loss, but if his doctors were seriously concerned about that they would probably have arranged a CT scan. So I think they were more likely just checking for localised pneumonia.

Nowadays it is possible to monitor your lung function using a portable pulse oximeter (costing about £30 online) which you put on your finger tip to measure the oxygen saturation of the blood. If it is higher than 85% (after taking a few deep breaths) then the lungs are working well enough. You can also assess the functional reserve by checking the O₂ saturation after a brisk walk – if it stays above 85% the lungs are fine and there is no need to be breathless or restrict your actvities. A lot of people with COPD feel breathless because of a sensation of restriction in the chest which makes them breathe harder unnecessarily.

iceoteck profile image
iceoteck

So sad hope every comes right he loves you hang in there 😘😘😘😘

Gaymay profile image
Gaymay

Thank You all for your posts, it's great to be able to talk to people who know all about COPD. Also comforting to read all your replies. Thank You.

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