This is something that David, Lynleys husband posted this morning. It is just a little insight into what Lynley is going through. Please Keep Lynley and the Muncey Family in your prayers as Lynley has been hospitalized again! David Muncey: Some of you have asked what it is that causes Lynley to need to be hospitalized so frequently. The short answer is COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) exacerbations. The long answer is, she has the Chronic Bronchitis side of COPD along with severe Asthma. Basically she has a permanent case of Bronchitis that doesnt get any better and will only continue to get worse. COPD is the #3 killer in North America, behind Heart Disease and Cancer. There is no cure for it, everything they are doing for her are attempts slow its progress. When she has these exacerbations, it is essentially the disease getting worse. She goes into the hospital to get strong IV medicines and treatment to try to fight off any infections that she might have. Typically they get her stabilized, then she can come home, but the overall disease is usually worse after that. Meaning she loses more and more of her lung function and her capacity to breathe when this happens. Before this exacerbation, she had 27% of her vital lung capacity left. Once she is stable enough to do the testing again, we expect that it will be closer to 20% left. One example that weve heard before is to take a drinking straw, plug your nose, put the straw in your mouth and only breathe through the straw. Thats what it is like for her to breathe everyday. An exacerbation is very dangerous and taxing on her system. The idea is to have as few exacerbations as possible. This is why shes a bit of a homebody and doesnt take a lot of visitors, especially during the cold months. A simple cold, the flu or a case of bronchitis, is annoying to you and I. To her, they bring on the exacerbations and she ends up in the hospital. Given her current physical state, its very easy for her to catch most any bug going around, so we try and limit her exposure as much as possible. So there you have it, todays lesson on COPD. If you have any additional questions, please ask.
Posted on: Wed, 13 Nov 2013 16:11:27 +0000
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