Hello,
I’m going to make this as short as possible. My dad was diagnosed in 2015 and has been living in the mountains of Colorado at approximately 11,000 ft.
He has only seen a pulmonary specialist once and has finally quit smoking recently after a 15 day stent in the hospital due to cracking three ribs while coughing.
I live out of state and came to Colorado to visit over Christmas. My parents have been divorced for 30 yrs and he has been staying with my mom since he got out of the hospital about 10 days ago. The good thing is that my mom lives in Colorado Springs which is about 5,000 ft lower in altitude.
When he got out of the hospital on Christmas Eve up until this past Saturday he’s seemed to be doing ok. Only using his oxygen concentrater at night and once and a while during the day. Well this past Saturday he was outside in the cold (like 10 degrees) a lot during the day and then he really wanted to go back up to the mountains to get some things from his house (going up in altitude and down in temperature). Once we got up there he started shaking really bad and couldn’t breathe and was freezing. When we got home he got on his oxygen and has been laid up since. I bought him a finger oxygen tester thing and if he tries to go to even the bathroom without oxygen his level drops from like 91 to 78.
Everyone around us is sick and I think he may have a common cold. He did have a fever and has had body aches.
A few days after he got out of the hospital we saw a PCM and he said that he would request prior medical records and call us to schedule a follow up. The nurse took his oxygen and he was at an 83.
My questions are:
1. Why do you think he took a turn for the worst? Do you think it was because he was on oxygen 24/7 in the hospital and then his air just got too low or could it be from the cold?
2. Would him bring on oxygen 100% of the time help?
3. Can you please give me any advise or helpful tips on to how to help him manage his COPD?
I am just so concerned as I know nothing about COPD (but I am learning) and at this point I don’t think he’s been diagnosed with a stage or prognosis
Thanks