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Final Stages – What to Expect

02/04/2010

Question:

My father is at what we consiider the “final stage” of pulmonary fibrosis. We aren`t given any information of what to expect in terms of the body “shutting down”. Please advise if possible. Male, 84, now at year 4 after diagnosis and on oxygen at highest level.

Answer:

In patients with highly advanced pulmonary fibrosis, it eventually gets too difficult to do simple tasks like bathing or dressing. Often patients will get increasingly sleepy as the oxygen level falls and the carbon dioxide level rises. Eventually, patients may sleep most or all of the day. Frequently death comes not from the pulmonary fibrosis but instead from lung infections (pneumonia) that can occur in patients with severe fibrosis. Hospice can be very helpful in the final stages of terminal pulmonary fibrosis.

For more information:

Go to the Pulmonary Fibrosis health topic.