Unable to wean off ventilator due to fibrous scar tissue!

[lynnmarr]

My husband's infection went down, but I received the bad news that due to scar tissue he only has use of 40% of his lungs. Since he has muscle athropy, doctor believes strengthening his core muscles can gain him more lung capacity? Has anyone been through this?

[FamilyHistorian]

My family were never told numbers or %s as they vary so much from one person to another. However I do have lung damage.

You need to remember that the loss of weight is both from fat and muscle wasting and that has to be rebuilt. So if you imagine what has to be done to stand and walk and how that gradually improves the same applies to the lungs. As they recover so does the lung capacity albeit it may not return to the original capacity. We are all different and recover at different speeds.

Take care of yourself.

[Sepsur]

Yes - after severe ARDS. There are very specific exercises you can do - we have a workshop soon with explanation from two head respiratory physios - I’ll send you a PM

[NSMOD in reply to Sepsur]

Can I also get these details please?

[Sepsur in reply to NSMOD]

I’ll pm you 😊

[Miltch]

Try not to worry too much, the lungs do heal.

The more rest and sleep your husband has the better for recovery.

My dad has been in hospital for 4 months now, he’s only been 2 weeks out of icu.

We were told his lungs were so scared and damaged from covid and pneumonia he’ll always need oxygen support.

Well now he’s recovering with no oxygen support and his oxygen is 95% all by himself.

The doctors always tell you the worse case scenario.

Good luck and all the best. X

[lynnmarr in reply to Miltch]

Thank you so much! Glad to hear the good news about your Dad.

[Tedsdad]

I am six months down the road after blood clot in heart following aortic aneurysm and aortic valve replacement. I am retired but was a professional wind player. I had 40 days in ICU with trache and the works. Even with doing a bit of practice I am still only on about 75 pc of previous capacity and the rib expansion is still very poor to what I had previously but it does and can get better but it won’t happen without work and determination. I still feel groggy although I can walk about 5 miles a day(dogs)

[holdtheprozac]

It gets better with time. I was off oxygen support when I left hospital (only just) but I couldn't breathe in deeply and felt very restricted. At that point my O2 levels were barely 94% and dropped after any kind of exertion. it's been 90 days since I was discharged and for the last two months I've been walking 4 to 5 days a week for 20 to 60 minutes (I had to build up over time) and now feel like my lungs are pretty much back to normal, except for occasional wheezing feeling when I talk too much. Otherwise, my O2 levels are 98% and I can breathe deeply again. However, they did tell me I had some scarring. The lungs do heal, but scarring cannot be reversed, so doing exercises etc can help the good part of the lungs become as good as they can be. Just takes time. My best wishes to your husband x.