my 80 yr. old father fell yesterday while in the hospital, CT showed everything was fine and he was discharged. Today he started the day off coherent but clumsy. Within a couple of hours he was mumbling, unable to answer questions, bp starting dropping, heart rate increased and sleeping a lot. We were already connected to a branch of hospice due to his C.O.P.D. and when the R.N. came by to chk. on him we were told that these were all signs of a slow bleed and we had two options. 1-take him back to hospital where there wasn t anything they would be able to do because of final stages copd. 2-keep him home and cherish what time we had left. We choose to keep him home. my question
Thanks for your question on Chat Doctor. I can understand your fathers situation and problem. By your history and description, possibility of type 2 (hypercarbia) respiratory failure is more in his case. It is common in COPD patients, due to expiratory flow limitations. So carbon dioxide remains in the body, and it is known as hypercarbia. Excess carbon dioxide suppress central nervous system (CNS - brain). So patient feels Chat Doctor.  It is reversible condition with ventilatory support. So in my opinion, you should take him to the hospital and start ventilatory support to clear hypercarbia. Once hypercarbia is clear, he will be alright. So consult pulmonologist and discuss all these. Hope I have solved your query. Wishing good health to your father. Thanks.