My dad has COPD

I was talking to my mum last night like I do every night at 6.10pm I think everyone else knows not to ring me at that time as I am either talking to mum or waiting for mum to ring, but not the point.

I was talking to mum and we were discussing how sick my dad has been lately, he coughs till he throws up a lot of brown/black foul smelling phlegm like stuff this has been happening for a while, he is back to the doctors tomorrow but he was so bad last night that mum ended up giving him a prednisone tablet which helped, she has been trying to not give it to him as she wants him to sound awful when they see the doctor which I get. It sucks when you are rotten and when you get to the doctor you are having a good day and don't sound as bad as you really are, if that makes any sense.

Still not the point, as I was saying I was talking to mum and she told me that dad has COPD, ok why am I only hearing this now, he has had it for a while now and by while I mean years it is due to him only have 1& a bit lungs.

Now this COPD (Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ) is a type of obstructive lung disease characterised by chronically poor airflow, the symptoms include shortness of breath, a cough with bring up phlegm, in which chronic incompletely reversible poor airflow and inability to breathe out fully (air trapping) exist. The poor airflow is the result of breakdown of lung tissue (emphysema) and obstructive bronchiolitis. When there is severe destruction of the small airways it can lead to the formation of large air pockets also known as bullae that replace lung tissue this doesn't sound good to me.

There is no known cure for COPD all that can be done is to treat the symptoms and try and delay the progression. Suffers should have a flu vaccination each year and should try and reduce exposure to air pollution. Of course suffers shouldn't smoke, and my dad hasn't smoked in 20-25years.

COPD usually gets gradually worse over time and can ultimately result in death, it is estimated that 3% of all disability is related to COPD, however, the overall number of years a person can live with COPD has increased, which is good news for my dad as I don't want to lose him any time soon. How fast a person with COPD worsens depends on the person and things like how much exercise the can manage and if they are under or overweight, if they smoke or around smokers.

COPD has been referred to as “smokers lung”

Someone with COPD is at an increased risk of many complications such as chest infections, pneumonia, collapsed lung, heart problems, anxiety, depression, hypoxaemia.

Hypoxaemia is caused by lack of oxygen to the brain, which can result in confusion, memory lapses both problems my dad has, dad also suffers from depression due to his bad health.

Suffers of COPD are at increased risk of a sedentary lifestyle due to the difficulties they have with walking and doing anything that can cause breathlessness this of course means they do less which make the COPD worse due to less exercise and they end up in a downward spiral of inactivity.

I worry about my dad a lot lately, since having the lung cancer in 2009 it has been one long battle, although when you ask dad how he is he will usually say he is fine nothing wrong, this is because he doesn't like to worry his children and grandchildren.

Dad also hates to go the the doctors since he is forever seeing one doctor or another but he needs to keep up on the doctor visits it is what is keeping him alive, not seeing a doctor can mean a simple to fix problem is not caught till it is too late. Dad knows his family love him and worries about him and that we want him around for as long as possible.

Since dad gets like this a lot I think he should have a stash of antibiotics to take when he is bad and not have to wait till he can get into see a doctor to get started on them, he has the prednisone at home which mum can give to him when it sounds like he needs it.

Ok this has been a long winded post, sorry for that I do try not to write long winded posts.