My mother has recently been hospitalized with severe pneumonia, either viral or bacterial (they aren t quite sure yet), which has spread from both of her lungs into her bloodstream. She has since been moved to the ICU and is now on life support for both her heart and lungs. As for prior health problems, my mother has also been a smoker for about 45 years and regularly uses Ventilin for sudden shortness of breath. At the moment they say that her condition could either improve or significantly worsen within the next several days, but I will have no peace of mind until I know with some certainty what will happen to her. Could someone provide me with a second opinion, or else any other way that I could somehow obtain a better picture of her health?
Thanks for your question on Chat Doctor. By your history, In my opinion your mother is having Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in the past. And Ventolin inhaler gives her temporary relief. COPD patients are always at risk of lung infection as their lung defense mechanism is weakened by smoking. So they are easily infected and once infected, infection lasts long. So same happened with your mother too. This infection causes poor oxygenation, so patient has to put on life support. So in my opinion your mother is having poor outcome due to1. Age2. Smoking history3. Underlying COPD4. On life supports.