Get your health question answered instantly from our pool of 18000+ doctors from over 80 specialties
159 Doctors Online

By proceeding, I accept the Terms and Conditions

Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

HCM Blog Instant Access to Doctors
HCM BlogQuestions Answered
HCM Blog Satisfaction

What Causes Shortness Of Breath And Heaviness In The Chest?

mom is 93 yrs old . she just had a CT scan of the chest. She has a large hiatal hernia which contains the entire stomach with an oganoaxial rotation, part of the proximal duodenum, pancreas, part of the transverse colon which contains diverticuli as well as abdominal fat within the thoracic cavity. Family dr sending her to see gastro dr and thoracic dr. which not until sept 20 th. She doesn t choke while eating, not losing weight. She has oxygen 24/7. 2 lits. she has Afib and some inflammation around heart. Biggest problem is very short of breath and chest heaviness. I am her caregiver and has paperwork etc. not sure what to do for her if she were to throw up or choke ? Insight please. Thank you.
posted on Mon, 24 Jul 2017
Twitter Fri, 17 Aug 2018 Answered on
Twitter Wed, 22 Aug 2018 Last reviewed on
Report Abuse
General & Family Physician,  's  Response
Hello,

It is very important to prevent vomiting or choking in the case of your mom. To do so she needs to be fed regularly small amount of food and fluids. She should not take big amounts at the same time as this would cause reflux of the stomach content and increase risk for choking. She needs also to lay with the head a bit higher than the body. This can be done by putting bricks under the bedhead to raise it so she does not need to have very high pillows and have neck problems. She can encouraged to lay at her side as much as she can. In this case even if some stomach content come out the risk of choking or content going to the lungs is less. Giving her Omeprazole 20 mg twice a day will help reduce stomach acidity and make the stomach content less irritating to the respiratory mucosa.

Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.
I find this answer helpful

1 Doctor agrees with this answer

Note: For further follow up on related General & Family Physician Click here.
Disclaimer: These answers are for your information only and not intended to replace your relationship with your treating physician.
This is a short, free answer. For a more detailed, immediate answer, try our premium service [Sample answer]
Share on
 

Related questions you may be interested in


Loading Online Doctors....
What Causes Shortness Of Breath And Heaviness In The Chest?

Hello, It is very important to prevent vomiting or choking in the case of your mom. To do so she needs to be fed regularly small amount of food and fluids. She should not take big amounts at the same time as this would cause reflux of the stomach content and increase risk for choking. She needs also to lay with the head a bit higher than the body. This can be done by putting bricks under the bedhead to raise it so she does not need to have very high pillows and have neck problems. She can encouraged to lay at her side as much as she can. In this case even if some stomach content come out the risk of choking or content going to the lungs is less. Giving her Omeprazole 20 mg twice a day will help reduce stomach acidity and make the stomach content less irritating to the respiratory mucosa. Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.