Well, as it turns out our dinner guest's dad had more going on than just pulmonary hypertension...so her info wasn't really helpful.
This is all so frustrating. I've talked with the doctors and viewed multiple reputable websites and I've come to the conclusion that yup, mom is just a ticking time bomb.
1. Too much fluid retention means her lungs will fill up and she won't be able to breath...resulting in the worst.
2. Congestive heart failure means eventually her heart will give out, resulting in the worst.
3. Less mobility means loosing muscle mass and balance issues which leads to falls, which could result in the worst.
4. Her sudden anemia means there aren't enough red blood cells to use the oxygen, even if it does get to her lungs, which causes them to not work, resulting in the worst.
5. Her kidneys are working triple time trying to get the fluid out with the lasix, and there is noticeable damage to them already, and if her kidneys give out the fluid won't be able to exit her body, filling up her lungs, and resulting in the worst.
Any of the above are in the high probability range at this moment. The lung doctors feel her heart will give out first, and she does go through random periods of ULTRA high heart rate... she lives at around 100 beats per minute on a normal day, which is already very high. This week she told me her apple watch told her her heart rate was 167 for about 20 minutes and then back down to 100. Three months ago her heart rate was over 130 for a full 24 hours and they had to shock her heart to get it to go back down to a normal rhythm.
The heart doctor thinks the fluid accumulation will be her end because either her kidney function will worsen, or she doesn't eat low sodium enough and she retains fluid, or the lasix is known to become less effective, or even if she gets a cold during cold and flu season that is upon us...any of those could fill up her lungs.
She is a time bomb, and all we can do is wait. In the meantime, she actually did cook dinner last night which made her very happy. Cooking, with the standing and moving involved, has become very difficult for her. She only does it 1-2 times per week, and she LOVES to cook, so that is really weighing on her mental state. She actually called herself lazy the other day, which is just ridiculous, and I told her so, but for now all we can do is wait and see.
Thank you for letting me vent everyone...I know I haven't been interactive much, I just have too much in my head, but it helps to type it out :- )
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