Re: Pneumonia & Snoring

[Guest guest]

Hi

Thank you for this important information. Yes, my

father does snore, but has been a bad snorer all his

life. Mum seems to think that the snoring is not quite

so bad at the moment, but I am aware of the risks. The

other messages about snoring all paint a sad picture,

so this will be added to my list of questions to ask

the doctors - they will run a mile when they see me

coming, but someone has to ask these things. I think

they just think they have another (of many) case of

pneumonia, without being aware of the implications in

my father's case, as yet!

I wonder if my father has a problem with swallowing

yet, although mum and I are now very alert to this. Of

course, it may be happening as you say, during sleep,

but would he, yet, be aware of it when he was awake -

ie, wouldn't he know if something had gone down the

wrong way? He is still capable of swallowing large

pills.

I will also follow the advice of others here, and ask

about the pneumonia vaccination. I had looked up my

medical book and found there were 8 types of

pneumonia, all treated with varying antibiotics.

Before I knew the information here, I had asked a

nurse injecting my dad with antibiotics shortly after

getting diagnosed with the pneumonia, what kind he

had, and she looked at me as if I was a nutter - after

all, pneumonia is just pneumonia, isn't it? I asked if

it was viral or bacterial, and she commented that they

don't treat viruses with antibiotics. I said nothing,

but my book said that the viral form is also treated

with antibiotics, if it turns into a bacterial

infection in the lung. Can they tell what type it is

from a blood test? They have decided not to withdraw

the small amount of fluid from dad's lung, but are

keeping a close watch. It is all of interest to me

because of what you have all been saying about what

might have caused dad's pneumonia. The hospital will

just be thinking that he has a typical case of

pneumonia because a number of other people have been

admitted to the hospital with it, but there is so much

more involved in dad's case, I can see now.

I will also have to ask about the swallowing test, and

speech therapy assessment etc - oh boy..... It is all

tricky as I don't want mum and dad to get any more

frightened than they are at the moment.

Enough for now. Thanks everyone for the contact.

Best wishes

Carol (madmacnz)

Subject: Re: Pneumonia

Carol,

In addition to what Jim noted, it is always wise to

check to see if

your

father has problems sleeping at night. If he snores

very heavily it

may

well be a sign of obstructive sleep apnea. This can

lead -- believe

me, I

know > -- to gastric reflux. This of course can

lead to aspiration

and

pneumonia. It is fairly readily handled through

Positive Airway

Pressure

devices (Continuous PAP ... CPAP; or BiLeve PAP ..

BiPAP). It's at

least

something to consider.

Regards,

=jbf=

B. Fisher

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