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Undergone Pericardectomy, Pneumonia, On Zithromax Since One Week. How To Cure This?
My husband had a Perricardectomy in Nov 2009 at the Ottawa Heart Institute, attending surgeon was Dr Messana. He has struggledt to regain strength and to recondition his body. He takes Lasix 80mg per day and Inspra 100mg per day 100 per day to barely contain the fluid retention since his illness with Perricarditis in 2009. His immune system seems to constantly be weak. Right now he is struggling to get over pneumonia . He worked outside and pushed himself for 3 days to get a project he really wanted to do (whippersnip grass in a100 square foot area). He used to be able to do these things and loved the outside work. He came down with a cold in his chest, cough and has continued to be weak to this day. That was 2 weeks ago. On July 1st he was given Zithromax because his lungs were sore and experiencing breathing difficult. Its been 7 days (medication was 250 mg once daily for 6 days). Bob is 67 years old and has had pneumonia 8 times in the past 5 years.
Mon, 21 Oct 2013
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1. having recurrent pneumonia means that either immune system is weak due to repeated infection [most of the infections are community-acquired] or due to decreased immunity, he is predisposed to recurrent infection,[alteration of the normal defense mechanisms of the respiratory tract] which means that other co morbid conditions have to be looked out like: any chronic lung disease, addiction to smoking,any brain disorder, immune system problem [STDs or organ transplant]?, any liver or heart disease [pericarditis] is there, diabetes mellitus.
2. since breathing difficulty is there which is in the course of pneumonia, still baseline investigations like chest x-ray, Arterial blood gases [ABG] to see if enough oxygen is getting into your blood from the lungs,complete blood count [CBC],CT scan of the chest,Culture of your sputum to look for the bacteria or virus that is causing your symptoms, Bronchoscopy can be ordered to go for in depth analysis.
3. patients with recurrent pneumonia should be thoroughly investigated, in order to find previously unrecognized immune deficiency [hypogammaglobulinemia] and flu as well as pneumococcal vaccine should be given for prophylaxis.
1. having recurrent pneumonia means that either immune system is weak due to repeated infection [most of the infections are community-acquired] or due to decreased immunity, he is predisposed to recurrent infection,[alteration of the normal defense mechanisms of the respiratory tract] which means that other co morbid conditions have to be looked out like: any chronic lung disease, addiction to smoking,any brain disorder, immune system problem [STDs or organ transplant]?, any liver or heart disease [pericarditis] is there, diabetes mellitus.
2. since breathing difficulty is there which is in the course of pneumonia, still baseline investigations like chest x-ray, Arterial blood gases [ABG] to see if enough oxygen is getting into your blood from the lungs,complete blood count [CBC],CT scan of the chest,Culture of your sputum to look for the bacteria or virus that is causing your symptoms, Bronchoscopy can be ordered to go for in depth analysis.
3. patients with recurrent pneumonia should be thoroughly investigated, in order to find previously unrecognized immune deficiency [hypogammaglobulinemia] and flu as well as pneumococcal vaccine should be given for prophylaxis.
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