Drastic decline after chest infection - is this to be expected?

I'm not a Dr and of course can't diagnose bu his swelling is not from lack of oxygen. How old is your dad? I'd anything, he may have a bit of a tired heart from having to over compensate and work harder bc of his trouble breathing and his circulation may not be what it used to be. The only way to really know if he needs his oxygen is to purchase a pulse oximeter (goes on his finger) and some Dr's say if it gets down to 88%, some Dr's say if it goes under 90%, then he needs oxygen. It could be he only needs oxygen when he exerts like going to the bathroom or walking anywhere. If it's good while he's sitting still then...no. That's me....I need it when I exert. As long as he catches his breath back when he sits down or has on the oxygen then he's ok. But you really need the pulse oximeter. You can get then pretty cheap almost everywhere. Hope this helps some. Keep us posted!!Ladyjack51

Your father sounds quite severe and with copd any infections can further damage the lungs and it sounds like this is what has happened.  Having said that 2 months is not that long to fully recover from it and it is possible that he will improve a bit in time.   Copd is a progressive disease but he can do a lot to try and keep it stable.   Leading a healthy lifestyle with as much exercise as possible will help him to stay fitter. 

I know exercise is very difficult in his situation but he does need to keep pushing himself to maintain maximum fitness. 

I hope this helps a bit.  Bev x

Sorry to hear about your Father.  I have to say that I have had a very similair experience.  I am 69 and was diagnosed with COPD four years ago.

I took the view that maintaining a high level of personal fitness was the best contribution I could make, so I led a very healthy lifestyle with plenty of excercise and "power walking" at least a mile every day.  This helped and as long as I paced my activities I was managing very well.  I am also part of the Somerset Tele Health programme and am supplied with a mobile 'phone, blood pressure monitor and an Oxyiometer. The readings are automatically sent to a monitoring centre on a daily basis and if anything seems out of the norm' they are on the 'phone PDQ.

All was Ok for three years until I got a severe chest infection in January.  This didn't seem to resond to penicillin, but steroid treatment did help.  However it kept re-occurring about every three weeks and never really cleared up.  The net result was that I was admitted to hospital as an emergency last month (5 months on). During this period my activity level dropped dramatically and even very short physical activity left me incredibaly breathless.  The upside is I am now firmly on "the radar" with local health professionals and I am seeing a consultant who is carrying out CT scans etc.

Personally I am determined to get my fitness level back, and have joined a local Pulmonary Rehab' programme.  This is excellent as you do controlled excercises under supervision, and are with a group of people who have the same condition and are very supportive. All age ranges are there and conditions vary from mild COPD to folk on oxygen 24/7

However Vaness, to go back to your original question, it is inevitable I am afraid that severe and repetitive infections will cause further lung damage which in turn increases the inevitable breathlesness.  Try and see if your Father can join a local rehab group, it does help.  Also try and obtain an oxyiometer, they are not expensive and do give a real indication of oxygen levels.

Good luck

Michael