i know i probably shouldn't post this here, but please be kind. my sister is ill and won't go to the doctor so this is technically a medical question.
she sure has symptoms of lyme but i can't tell as i live so far away.
mom called and said they went out to dinner and she had a handkerchief and kept coughing. my one sister noticed this and said it looked like black blood, not red, black.
i know she's had problems with gerd and stomach but i thought red blood was an ulcer. i'm just so ignorant of these things.
so what does coughing up black blood (well i assume it's blood right?) mean?
thanks for your help. and again i apologize for posting this here but i honestly didn't know where to put it.
Posted by Vermont_Lymie (Member # 9780) on :
Sounds serious enough for your mother (and you) to insist she go to see a doctor! LLMD would be great, but seeing any doctor (pulmonologist, internal) sounds necessary with that symptom.
Sounds like your mom lives close by enough to meet her for dinner -- so she should be the one to take her to a doctor to check it out. Good luck with this.
Edited to add: Yes, have your mom bring her to an ER, agree with everyone else. If she refuses to go to the ER, then go to a doctor ASAP.
[ 03. December 2006, 05:47 PM: Message edited by: Vermont_Lymie ]
Posted by AZURE WISH (Member # 804) on :
That sounds pretty bad.
If it was my sibling I would tell them to go to the dr asap or er.
Posted by cal57 (Member # 10684) on :
your sister needs to get to the hosp asap!!!
Posted by geniveve (Member # 8646) on :
thanks a bunch. but what do you think it could mean?
anything, even a guess guys. ulcers?? something called barrett's, which i think is a damaged esophagus, right?
if i could at least tell mom, "hey,, mom, this could be lethal. it could be so and so" maybe she would listen. right now, she just say's "well you know your sister. she's 61 and she's not going to listenn to me."
arrrghhhhhhhhh
Posted by Ann-OH (Member # 2020) on :
If she is coughing up the blood, it is probably coming from her lungs, not her stomach.
She needs to get to the ER quickly.
Ann - OH
Posted by Ladylee210 (Member # 9945) on :
Oh gosh I agree - coughing up any color blood is the lungs.
She needs to go to the ER.
Posted by Lioness (Member # 10655) on :
Sometimes it is hard to distinguish between coughing and spitting up blood. You can spit up old blood (black) from an ulcer.
If it is streaks of blood, it could be from a tear in the small blood vessels of the throat or the esophagus.
There are several other things it could be too.
**EITHER WAY, if it is spitting or coughing blood, she should be evaluated by a doctor. ESPECIALLY if it is ongoing.**