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Death by Emphysema?

I have end stage emphysema.  I was put on hospice 3 mos. ago.  It is not being dead I worry about, but the process of dying I fear.  I lost my husband a year and a half ago to dementia, and have cared for many family members in their last time so I know the "mechanics" of the dying process.  What I want to know is what to expect with emphysema.  I feel physically weaker inside each day.  It is odd but especially in the mornings after a full load of meds and breathing treatments, but sitting still in my chair or up in my bed my mind feels sharp, and speaking with folks on the phone, they say how great I sound.  I feel like I can get up and do anything.  Of course, I cannot, but I do feel and think it.  I can still get to bathroom by myself, fix a sandwich, etc. but without hospice, I could not bathe or do any personal care.  I do several breathing treatments a day (seems like more and more often, even waking at night gasping) use rescue inhaler 4 to 6 times, and sometimes just breathe through it.  They have given me the morphine and anti-anxiety meds to help with breathing...not sure, how they are supposed to help...but...another discussion.  I have always believed I can get through anything if I know it will end, so when bad spell starts I do what I can then start breathing through it and counting.  I understand it takes 3 to 7 minutes to suffocate.  So if I pass out or go to sleep before I hit 180 that is as long as it last.  I understand it takes about 40 seconds for a person to die of asphyxiation  What I cannot find out is when you die of emphysema do you suffocate of die of asphyxiation? So, when you die of emphysema do you suffocate or die of asphyxiation and what do they each feel like.  Does anyone have any feed back on this?  My very best to all of you.  
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973741 tn?1342342773
This is a hard subject, but helpful information.
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Avatar universal
This article discusses what to expect: https://www.healthline.com/health/copd/end-stage-copd
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1 Comments
Thank you for sharing the link.   I think this must be incredibly hard for any family to go through.  

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