Shortness of breath....

[Junior]

Has anyone had this happen?

My dad has had severe shortness of breath lately. He went into the hospital 2 weeks ago because of a blood clot in a leg artery. They cleared the clot and put him on Coumadin. They first thought that the clot was from a "silent" heart attack. They ruled out his heart and checked his lungs (bronchoscopy) for any bleeding. There was none. Needeless to say they are puzzled as to the cause of the clot. It "could" have been from when his lung was bleeding back in January when he was first diagnosed with LC.

Anyway......since he has been home from the hospital he has had severe shortness of breath. They lowered his dose of Coumadin. His onc thinks it could be just fatigue. The tumor has shrunk and his O2 levels are normal. His blood count is a little low (10.9) but he has been getting Procrit. There will be more tests (blood & chest x-ray & heart echo) this week. He had to skip his chemo last Friday because he was too weak. He should get it this Friday. This has also been holding up his radiosurgery for his brain met.

Any thoughts would be great.....

Thanks

[Guest]

Hello Junior,

My father had severe shortness of breath too. It was caused by an effusion (fluid) that had built up causing his lung to collapse. I am definitely not saying that is what has happened...I just wanted you to be aware that that was the reason for my fathers shortness of breath. Be sure to get ALL of the appropriate X rays and scans done so nothing is missed.

Take care,

[KatieB]

Junior,

My dad experiences shortness of breath when his blood counts are low, even those his oxygen reads 98 ! It's more a matter of exhaustion. And now, if he over does it and walks around instead of using the wheelchair, he is short of breath and huffs and puffs as if he just ran a marathon. It's normal and nothing is wrong in his case. Hope that helps.

Keep us informed,