Pneumonia

[mp170.6]

A friend of mine died today.  He was in a nursing home following a heart attack in July.  Due to the remote location (Holy Jim Canyon in South OC) it took paramedics a long time to respond and he was without oxygen for 20+ minutes. 

 

The anoxia damaged the part of his brain responsible for speech and motor functions, hence the rehab at the nursing facility.  He made some progress with words, swallowing liquids, and walking, but seemed to regress in the last few days with fatigue.  Blood pressure was detected low a few days earlier, so he was on saline IV drip. This morning, he had difficulty breathing.  They called 911, transported him to the hospital, and he was dead 90 minutes later.  Per his son, acute pneumonia was cited as the cause. 

 

I never realized that acute pneumonia could kill a person so quickly. I always figured that pneumonia did its damage over a somewhat longer period with more obvious symptoms, even in patients in such bad shape.  I was around him 36 hours earlier and saw no signs of coughing, no skin discoloration, no distress, nothing.  He looked rather comfortable to be honest. 

 

Can anybody with some experience shed some light on this?  Vegas Halo Fan?

[mancini79]

I'm sorry for your loss MP. As I was reading your post, I also was surprised about acute pneumonia. Always figured fatal pneumonia would take some time to develop.

[mp170.6]

Thanks for the kind words.

 

Yeah...the acute nature is what has me curious.  I was told many moons ago that "acute" doesn't necessarily mean severe or potentially fatal.  But in my friend's case, acute pneumonia seems nearly synonymous with cardiac arrest.