Hello,my husband was diagnosed with COPD 8 years ago,he was ok ,middling along only using oxygen at night time and a nebuliser twice a day,last month he suddenly took a turn for the worse with acute respiratory distress and was in intensive care for 10 days,the docs told me that he had developed emphysema,and was in the last stages of the disease with a FEV of just 14% which they managed to impr...
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Hello,my husband was diagnosed with COPD 8 years ago,he was ok ,middling along only using oxygen at night time and a nebuliser twice a day,last month he suddenly took a turn for the worse with acute respiratory distress and was in intensive care for 10 days,the docs told me that he had developed emphysema,and was in the last stages of the disease with a FEV of just 14% which they managed to improve to 24% on leaving the hospital,now he is house bound and on oxygen 24|7 and uses the nebuliser 4 times a day,yesterday he started to go down again but I think we managed to rally him with antibiotics,I'm keeping a close eye on him,it's frightening how suddenly this disease can flare up,he is beginning to eat less and is sleeping a lot,which worries me as he is a CO2 retainer.I am also having a very hard time trying to persuade him to take baths or showers or even to let me give him a stand up bath in a bowl,he always says he can't breath,but he needs to keep clean,any ideas on getting him washed?
Hello Hellas, I'm sorry to hear about the difficulty you are having as you care for your husband. Caring.com has a few resources that may be helpful to you as you search for information on this topic:
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Kind regards, Sho of the Caring.com Community Team
Hi Hellas - This is an ongoing problem with my father. 1. We have a chair in the shower and a chair outside the shower. It's a tight squeeze, however it seems to make him secure. 2. I have baby wipes and antiseptic wipes all over the place. Next to his bed, next to the toilet, washbasin, coffee table and dining table. I wash his hands regularly give his face a wipe and ask him to use them - and he does. 3. I also talk to him about personal hygiene, and tell him "If you don't wash you can get ulcers and sores and smell". My father has advanced Alzheimer's so I have to repeat this mantra often. It seems important to adopt a no nonsense tone' "I've turned the shower on - time for your shower-" seems to work, It is a difficult hurdle and I wish you lots of luck. Take care of yourself. XxX