Dad in hospital again

Hello blogland, how is everyone doing, I am well, cold but well can't have the heater on as Tim is home from work, if fact he has called in sick for the day, he has a sore throat and not feeling that great at all.

In other news my dad is in hospital again, on Thursday night he was really unwell and spent most of the night coughing and fighting to breathe. So on Friday morning mum suggested ringing the ambos but dad said no he didn't want that, mum said she had to go to Woolies for a few things and would see how dad was when she got home.

Well when she got home he was still in bed and Sandra and Ed went to check on him at first they thought he would be ok if he just stayed in bed, however, he had to go to the toilet and he ended up coughing and nearly collapsed, he couldn't breathe and the whole thing gave mum and Sandy a fright.

So Sandra walked out and rang the ambos and went in and told mum to get dad ready the ambos were on the way, this annoyed dad as he really didn't want them called. However, while he was in A & E he changed his mind and told mum it was the right thing to do.

Mum said last night when I was talking to her that he had a couple of bad turns the first was when he thought he would go and have a shower, this didn't end well and he was brought back to his bed in a wheelchair with a couple of nurses with him, his breathing was very shallow and he blood pressure was very high, they thought he might had been having a heart attack but that wasn't the case after they gave him oxygen and settled him back in bed he recovered a bit. In the end there was 3 nurses and 3 doctors around him and mum thought how many more people are going to squeeze into this little cubical.

The later in the day he had to go to the toilet and called for a nurse to wheel him to the bathroom but when he had finished and just fell into the wheelchair and had to have oxygen again when he was taken back to his bed.

I haven't been over to see him, I feel he is too sick for visitors and mum said that was right he only wants mum there with him, she goes over in the morning and leaves to be home when Dawson gets home from school, she doesn't go back over in the afternoon as mum doesn't like to drive at night.

For those of don't know dad has COPD which is Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease it is a term used to describe a number of lung conditions that are long-term, gradually worsen, and cause shortness of breath by reducing the normal flow of air through the airways. The most common are emphysema, chronic bronchitis and chronic asthma. Each of these conditions can occur on its own, although many people have a combination of conditions.

The main symptoms of COPD are:

• Shortness of breath
• Cough
• Increased mucus production

Wheezing and chest tightness are also common. Some people in the very early stages of COPD can show no symptoms at all, and it may only be detected with breathing tests. In the early stages, breathlessness may occur when walking up hills or stairs. As COPD becomes more severe, breathlessness can worsen to a point where everyday tasks, such as hanging out the washing or showering become difficult.

Dad has COPD because he only has one lung due to having lung cancer in 2009.