My Mother Is 79 And She Used To Smoke, Been

My mother is 79 and she used to smoke, been smoke free for 8 years now but was diagnosed with emphysema, copd and they say 50% of one of her lungs is basically dead. She battled bronchitis and phenomena several times a year lately. She fights and wears herself out daily just to breath, she was recently prescribed prednisone bc they thought she was close to pneumonia again. She felt amazing on the prednisone, only time she's felt right in years (she lives in pain bc she's scared to take pain mess bc they're too strong and worries of getting addicted), she's also lost tons of weight recently and the prednisone was increasing her appetite too. So basically it was helping in all areas she needed help in. But now that the prednisone has been completed she's back to feeling bad again. Is possible if she talks to her dr that they would prescribe her prednisone long term? Just thought I'd ask if that's even a possibility before she wastes time bringing it up with her family dr? Thank you so much. Kimbi Garrett