- Joined
- Mar 14, 2016
- Messages
- 88
- Reason
- Lost a loved one
- Diagnosis
- 02/2016
- Country
- US
- State
- SC
- City
- Summerville
Hubby had an episode of extreme (even more so than usual) fatigue for about a week. On Thursday he would not eat or drink anything and laid in bed all day. Friday morning he was short of breath...not gasping for breath but not able to take full breaths either. We went to the emergency room at the nearest hospital. They gave him fluids and the breathing difficulty went away. They tested blood gas levels and they were good. They did scans of the lungs and found that they were clear (no aspiration pneumonia). During that process they caught something on his liver (maybe metastatic cancer, maybe not). Anyway, they kept him in the hospital for a couple of days for observation. They seemed to think that if he had bi-pap it would help if he had another episode as they felt that he was just very fatigued and his breathing muscles just got tired. We asked the doctor about a feeding tube (he has lost 60 lbs since last June) and bi-pap. She agreed to the feeding tube but said he was "not eligible" for bi-pap because when he was tested April 1st his FVC was 66%. I asked them to clarify what "not eligible" meant - insurance won't pay for it or they won't prescribe it until he gets down to 50%. They said that insurance won't pay for it and there is no proof that early bi-pap is beneficial. Anyone have any opinions on that? My personal feeling is that if it isn't detrimental, then what is the harm in trying it? We would pay for it out of pocket if necessary. Also, does anyone know if VA will pay for it before FVC gets to 50%? Hubby has Medicare right now but as soon as VA processes the application for medical we will be switching to VA for his ALS care. They do have an ALS clinic at our VA. He has already been granted VA benefits. We just need to get him into the health care side.